Awards made to Statoil under Norway’s 17th offshore licensing round are in line with the group’s targets for these Norwegian Sea allocations. The group has been offered the operatorship and 30 per cent of production licence 281, which covers deepwater blocks 6405/4, 6405/7 and 6405/10 on the Grip Ridge north of the Ormen Lange discovery. These blocks have a water depth of between 700 and 900 metres. In addition, Statoil stands to receive a 20 per cent interest in PL 282, a “seismic option” with Shell as operator covering deepwater blocks 6504/6, 6505/1, 6505/2, 6505/4 and 6505/5. Shell, Statoil’s partner in applying for this licence, has received 20 per cent in licence 281. BP was offered 20 per cent, Phillips gets 10 per cent, while Petoro gets 20 per cent. In PL 282, which does not involve any drilling commitment, Shell is being offered 30 per cent, Norsk Hydro 25 per cent and RWE-DEA 25 per cent. These blocks have a water depth of about 1,000 metres
