Big Barents Oil making headway

Statoil announces that it is increasing its stakes in four Barents licenses, among them the prospective Wisting license (PL537). The deal is concluded with Tullow Norge.

«This transaction reflects our strong belief in the exploration potential on the Norwegian continental shelf and our commitment to create value in the Barents Sea,» Jez Averty, Statoil’s senior vice president for exploration in Norway and UK, says in a press release.

Two of the acquired stakes are in the Hoop structure, a promising area in the central part of the Barents Sea. After the deal, Statoil will control respectively 35 and 55 percent of the licenses. That makes it the biggest stakeholder in the Wisting license and the Hoop area.

The deal comes as the company announces that it in 2017 plans to drill between 5-7 wells in the Barents Sea. 

The new momentum in the area is followed up by OMV, the Austrian company, which holds operator responsibility at Wisting. OMV now signals that it might choose to use a Sevan FPSO for the project. According to E24.no, the company has commissioned Sevan Marine to assess the possible application of a Sevan in the project.

If a Sevan FPSO is applied, it will be the second platform of the kind applied in the region. From before, ENI operates its Goliat project with the floating, cylindrical production facility.

The Wisting field is one of the biggest discoveries in the Barents Sea. It was made with the rig «Leiv Eriksson» in 2013. It is located about 300 km north of Hammerfest, the Norwegian Arctic town.  OMV in April this year successfully drilled an appraisal well at the nearby Wisting Central II. In 2017, the company plans to drill at Gemini Nord, a structure located nearby the Wisting, E24 reports.

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