Norway's Statoil ASA concludes drilling of exploration well in the North Sea

Nordic Business Report, Nov 30, 2007

NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT-30 November 2007-Norway's Statoil ASA concludes drilling of exploration well in the North Sea(C)1994-2007 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com

Norwegian oil group Statoil ASA said on Friday (30 November) that it has concluded drilling of exploration well Ragnarrock 2 (16/2-4), in the North Sea.

The well lies 35 kilometres east of the Gudrun field and 30 kilometres south of the Grane field, the company said.

The well was not production tested, but comprehensive data gathering and sampling were carried out that will now be more closely analysed. The find is estimated to contain between 30 and 60 million barrels of proven recoverable oil. There were also traces of hydrocarbons in crystalline rock types.

The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned. It was drilled by the West Epsilonrig which will now return to the shipyard before further assignments.

The licensees in exploration licence 265 are operator StatoilHydro ASA with 30%, Petoro (30%), DNO (30%) and Talisman (10%).

Statoil, headquartered in Stavanger in Norway, is an integrated oil and gas company with annual sales of over NOK390bn. The company is in the process of merging with the petroleum division of Norway's Norsk Hydro ASA to create StatoilHydro. Statoil is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange.

One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 11.18 Norwegian kroner (NOK).

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