Statoil has agreed to acquire JX Nippon’s 45% equity share in, and operatorship of, the UK license for the Utgard field, which straddles the Norwegian and UK median line.
The move will see Statoil increase its holding in the license to 100%, having previously acquired stakes from First Oil in October 2015 and Talisman Sinopec in December 2015. Statoil is the operator in license PL046, on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, also containing Utgard, with a 62% holding.
Utgard, previously known as Alfa Sentral, is a gas and condensate field . It is planned to be developed as a tie-back to existing infrastructure on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) for Sleipner, which Statoil operates.
A final investment decision for Utgard is planned before end-2016 with production start-up in 2020.