Statoil ASA (STO: 21.40 -0.07 -0.33%) has added another feather to its cap with the green signal from the Norwegian government for development and operation of its North Sea Gudrun field. Approximately $3.6 billion Gudrun development plans include drilling of seven production wells and the process of onward transmission to Europe via the Gassled system. Production from the field is expected to come online in the first quarter of 2014.Statoil is one of the leading suppliers of natural gas in the European market and has a 21.1% stake in the world’s largest offshore pipeline network, Gassled, which transports natural gas from the North Sea to the European gas transmission system.
Recoverable reserves for the North Sea Gudrun field are estimated at 11.2 million standard cubic metres of oil and 6.6 billion standard cubic metres of gas. Statoil is the operator in this field and has a 46.8% interest. Other two partners are Marathon Petroleum (28.2%) and GdF Suez (25%). Statoil is the operator of 42 productive oil and gas fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
Statoil is increasingly shifting its focus to the still unexplored areas of the Norwegian Sea. It has also been actively investing in the existing fields to get more hydrocarbons. In March, Statoil stated that it will invest $3.4 billion for further development of Norway’s largest gas field, Troll. Management is targeting an oil recovery rate of 50% by 2020 from the current 39%.
We prefer Statoil for its strong finances, relatively improved asset base over its peers and significant exploration initiatives in the North Sea. We believe that the company is well positioned to gain from continued global recovery on the back of its focus on improving returns on capital employed by maintaining disciplined capital outlays and reducing operating costs.
No comments:
Post a Comment