OMV strengthens license base offshore northern Norway

July 2, 2013
Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has awarded OMV interest in six new offshore exploration licenses.

Offshore staff

OSLO, Norway – Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has awarded OMV interest in six new offshore exploration licenses.

Two of the licenses – PL702 and 703 – are in the deepwater area of the Vøring basin in the northern Norwegian Sea. OMV will operate both with a 60% interest, the remainder held by Poland’s PGNiG.

These concessions are thought to be prospective for gas, with potential synergies for any discoveries with theAasta Hansteen and Polarled pipeline projects.

In the Barents Sea, OMV has a 20% stake in four new licenses operated by Statoil, Repsol, RWE, and GDF SUEZ. The PL615 B and PL723 concession are on the Hoop High and are the northernmost to dateoffshore Norway.

In this area, OMV plans to drill the Wisting prospect this summer on existing license PL537, with Statoil aiming to drill Apollo on nearby PL 615 next year.

The other two new licenses are PL711 and PL721, at the western margin of the Barents Sea.

Overall, OMV expects to participate in up to eight exploration wells in the Barents Sea through mid-2014, three as operator.

7/2/2013