Three operatorships and an interest in a fourth licence have been secured by Statoil in the second Faroese offshore licensing round – which accords with its application.
Statoil obtained 100 per cent and the operatorship of two licences. These include blocks 6204/22-25, 27, 28 and parts of 29 and 30, blocks 6203/28-30, part of 6103/1, 6103/2-6, and parts of 6103/7 and 8. They cover 1,356 and 1,714 square kilometres respectively.
The group got 50 per cent of its third operatorship, with Shell holding 20 per cent, DONG 20 and Faroe Petroleum 10 per cent. With its 2,084 square kilometres, this acreage covers blocks 6105/22-24, 26-29, 6005/1-3 and part of 6005/4.
And Statoil was given 30 per cent in another 686-square-kilometre licence, operated by ChevronTexaco with 40 per cent. The other partners are DONG with 20 per cent and OMV with 10.
This covers blocks 6103/16, 21, 26, 6104/25 and 30. The licence is adjacent to the Rosebank/Lochnagar structure on the UK continental shelf west of Shetland, where ChevronTexaco had a considerable oil and gas find in December. Statoil also has a 30 per cent interest in the blocks where the discovery was made.
"We are delighted with the new licences awarded to us by the Faroese authorities," says Gregory Himes, Statoil's vice president for the former Soviet Union and Europe in the global exploration cluster of International Exploration & Production. "The acreage represents a significant expansion of our current licence areas off the Faroe Islands. This offers new and exciting opportunities for us, and we are looking forward to starting work on the new acreage."
No drilling commitments are imposed under the licences, but Statoil will be shooting more seismic on its acreage.
Statoil and its partners have three to five years, depending on the licence, to decide whether to drill exploration wells.
The second Faroese round covered roughly 19,000 square kilometres, divided into 83 full and 39 part blocks. Most of these lie east and south-east of the North Atlantic islands.
Statoil already has two operatorships on the Faroese continental shelf from the first licensing round.