Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – Statoil is considering whether to end its search for oil and gas in the US Gulf of Mexico, the company’s exploration chief told financial daily Dagens Naeringsliv (DN) on Friday.
Statoil has been part of several discoveries in the region as a junior license partner, but the company has failed to strike oil in the drilling campaigns it has operated, despite spending billions of dollars.
“Even if the fields we have are paying off, the Statoil-operated exploration campaign could so far be characterized as a failure,” Tim Dodson told DN. “We’ll consider whether to and how to proceed,” he said.
A Statoil spokesman told Reuters that the company is evaluating its work in the region, and that no decision has been made on whether or not to continue drilling there as an operator. Statoil’s latest well in the Gulf was drilled some 18 months ago and the company will not spud any in the region in 2017.
Meanwhile, Statoil says it plans todrill about 30 exploration wells in other regions this year, with more than half (16-18) targeting prospects offshore Norway.
01/06/2017
