Russian licensing authority Rosnedra awarded Lundin Petroleum a production license for the Morskaya field in the northern Caspian Sea.
The production license, in the Lagansky Block, will be valid until 2035 and covers about 50sq km.
The Morskaya field, owned by LLC Petroresurs, which is 70% owned by Sweden-based Lundin and 30% owned by commodity trading firm Gunvor Group, is estimated to contain gross contingent resources of 157 MMboe.
The Morskaya discovery was made on the field in 2008. The Morskaya-1 well was the first in a four-well drilling program planned for 2008 and 2009 and targeting Triassic and Jurassic Sandstone Reservoirs. At the time, gross unrisked prospective resources for the Morskaya prospect within the Lagansky block were estimated at 640 MMboe.
Today, Ashley Heppenstall, Lundin's President and CEO, says: "We are very pleased to receive a production license for the Morskaya field and will now work towards putting in place a plan to fully appraise this large discovery situated in the northern Caspian Sea."