The Norwegian government has proposed how to divvy up stakes in the giant Johan Sverdrup field, with Det norske losing out.
How to divide up the field has been in despute since earlier this year, resulting in a delay to the government's official approval of Statoil's development plan for the field.
The US$14.8 billion first phase development on Johan Sverdrup will see four, bridge-linked installations alone, as well as subsea templates. Overall the field is expected to unlock some 1.7-3 billion boe, with first production targeted for 2019.
The field, originally thought to be two separate structures, Aldous Major and Avaldsnes, was discovered by Statoil and Lundin respectively.
Four out of the five shareholders, including operator Statoil, agreed in February on how to divide up the project, but Det norske disputed the agreement, leading to protracted negotiations and finally a government review.
Following today's decision, Det norske will hold 11.57%, down from the proposed 11.89% set in February, the Oil and Energy Ministry said in a statement.
Det norske had argued its part of the field, one of three licenses that make up Sverdrup, has more valuable oil with higher concentration and a greater recovery potential, and lower production costs, and that therefore it should have a greater stake in revenue from Sverdrup's eventual output.
"We will now study the decision thoroughly before we decide how to proceed," Det norske Chief Executive Karl Johnny Hersvik said in a statement this morning.
State holding firm Petoro's stake would decreases slightly to 17.36% from 17.84%, while Lundin's stake would increase to 22.60% from 22.12% and Maersk Oil's to 8.44% from 8.12%.
Statoil's stake remained unchanged at 40.03%. The ministry set a three week deadline for complaints.
In a statement, the ministry said: "The ministry has been based on the thorough subsurface work conducted by companies and has also taken into account to a review obtained from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The ministry has applied present volume adjusted for differences in inherent reservoir properties at their discretion in distributing Sverdrup instance. The ministry's decision on the allocation of the deposit is made after an overall assessment of all available information and case information.
"When all companies have signed the agreement, the Ministry will approve the development plans for the Johan Sverdrup field. Until this happens, the construction continued under the agreement established for the planning phase (pre-unit agreement)."
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