Statoil wins 40 Gulf of Mexico blocks

Statoil has been awarded 40 deepwater blocks in the US sector of the Gulf of Mexico. Statoil said it had gained operatorship of 16 of the blocks and was sole licensee for seven. The company is partners with US oil companies Oryx Energy and Louisiana Land and Exploration Co (LL&E) in 33 blocks located in more than 2,000 metres of water in the Walker Ridge and Atwater Valley areas. In acreage terms, 25 of these holdings equal one Norwegian North Sea block.
Statoil originally applied for 54 licences with Oryx and LL&E as well as 13 on its own.The licensing round was the largest ever held in the United States, with 1,790 companies bidding for 1,032 blocks. Statoil invested some $ 9 mm in the auction. It said it plans to start activities by mapping the acreage secured with three-dimensional seismic. Drilling is expected to begin in 1999 at the earliest.