Maersk Clinches Two New Licences Offshore Norway

On 15 January 2013 Maersk Oil Norway was offered two licenses in the APA 2012 licensing round; PL660, with a 25% share, and PL671, with a 60% share and operatorship, both in the North Sea.

PL660 covers the Norwegian part of the Edinburgh prospect which extends into the British sector. Maersk Oil’s British subsidiary, Maersk Oil UK, was awarded a licence covering this part of the Edinburgh prospect in October 2012 as part of the UK’s 27th Round. With the award of PL660, Maersk Oil paves the way for closer cross-border exploration collaboration. The second new license is PL671, which is located in a new area for Maersk Oil, the Egersund Basin in the North Sea.

“These two new licenses are important contributions to Maersk Oil’s growth in Norway. We are, in addition, working on acquiring interests in other licenses in the North Sea and in the Norwegian Sea. With these additions to our portfolio we have a great opportunity to leverage Maersk Oil’s global experience of exploring for and producing oil and gas and to benefit from our borderless approach to exploration in the North Sea,” said Morten W. Jeppesen, Managing Director of Maersk Oil in Norway.

After this licensing round, Maersk Oil will be active in 21 licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, six as operator. Maersk Oil has interest in the giant Johan Sverdrup oil discovery, the Zidane gas discovery and is currently drilling the Albert Prospect in PL211 in the Norwegian Sea.

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Press Release, January 16, 2013