Norway: Marathon to Take Over Vilje Operatorship from Statoil

Statoil transfers operatorship of the Vilje field in the North Sea to Marathon Oil Norge.  The agreement does not involve any change of stakes in the production licence (PL 036D).

“Statoil is interested in good area solutions. We therefore find it natural that Marathon, as the biggest operator in the area, gets to optimise the values for the licensees,” says Jannicke Nilsson, Statoil’s head of operations North Sea West.

Thanks to this transfer of operatorship a rig that was planned to be used for the Vilje South development will be available for other Statoil drilling jobs. Portfolio management is a priority area in Statoil’s strategy, and the Norwegian continental shelf emerges as an area where such focus may add value.

In recent years Statoil has carried out several transactions and signed joint venture agreements to position Statoil as a financially robust, technology-focused upstream company.

This includes the agreement to sell assets to Centrica, the acquisition of Hess’ stake in the Snøhvit field, and the purchase and sales agreement with Total on the Valemon and Hild fields, which are under development.

The agreement with Marathon takes effect on 1 September 2012 subject to the approval of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.  The Vilje development includes two subsea wells tied in to the Alvheim production vessel. The field is located some 20 kilometres north-east of the Marathon-operated Alvheim field.

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Source: Statoil, May 16, 2012