The Norwegian authorities have offered Statoil one operatorship and shares in three production licences on the Norwegian continental shelf in the 2002 North Sea licensing round.
"We have largely been offered what we applied for," says Karin Ask, sector manager in the Exploration & Production Norway business area.
The production licences cover areas which contain gas in the northern blocks and oil in the southern part of the North Sea. Any discoveries can be tied back to existing infrastructure.
Statoil will be operator for and have an 80 per cent stake in part of block 25/10 between the Sleipner fields and the Grane area.
In blocks 4/1 and 4/2 Statoil will have a 30 per cent interest. These blocks are located near the Siri field on the Danish continental shelf.
In block 31/4 Statoil will have 12.7 per cent. This is additional acreage to the Brage field, east of Oseberg.
The group will also have 40 per cent in the 34/12 and 35/10 blocks, and a small share in block 35/7. These lie east of the Kvitebjørn field.
See the press release for the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.