Statoil Hydro on November 27 said it has won a bid to
conduct offshore exploration off Brazil. The Norwegian group was
awarded two blocks offshore. The blocks, numbered CM529 and CM530, are located in sea depths of around 100 m. The licenses for the two blocks were to be operated by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation that would have a 50 percent stake, the same as Statoil Hydro.
Statoil Hydro did not state what the bid cost.
The blocks were located next to the heavy oil field Peregrino that was slated to come on stream in 2010. Statoil Hydro has a 50-percent-stake in the Peregrino field in the Campos basin. The Norwegian group was created October 1 when Statoil and its rival Norsk Hydro merged their oil and gas activities.
StatoilHydro and other oil producers were lifted by oil prices which moved up on expectations of another fall in US crude oil inventories. “We are pleased with the
good results we have achieved. These licences will further strengthen StatoilHydro’s longterm commitment to Brazilian offshore activities,” said Jorge Camargo, president of Statoil- Hydro Brazil.
The blocks lie adjacent to the Peregrino field in the Campos basin in which Statoil- Hydro already holds a 50 percent interest.
The news came after Statoil announced a new
gas discovery in Azerbaijan, announced by BP. Statoil has 25 percent of the Shah Deniz field and said the find meant there was potential of more than doubling the output from the field. (Source: www.neurope.eu)