Statoil Becomes Martin Linge Operator
Statoil said March 19 that it and Total have completed their transaction, announced last year, whereby Statoil has acquired Total’s equity stakes in, and taken over the operatorships of, the Martin Linge field and the Garantiana discovery offshore Norway.
Statoil now has a 70% interest in the Martin Linge gas and oil field (it previously had only 19%) and 40% in the Garantiana oil discovery, adding that 121 Total employees have transferred over to Statoil in accordance with the Sale and Purchase Agreement and applicable legislation.
Total announced November 27 it had agreed to sell its entire interests in both offshore Norwegian assets to Statoil for $1.45bn. The only other interest in Martin Linge is the 30% held by Norwegian state petroleum holding Petoro.
A fatal crane collapse at a South Korean shipyard in May 2017 deferred start up of Martin Linge (previously known as Hild) by more than a year until 1H2019. Last week Statoil announced its intention to rename itself Equinor.
Norwegian upstream regulator NPD says that rich gas from Martin Linge will be transported to the Frigg UK pipeline, and on to the Shell-Esso (Segal) terminal at St Fergus in the UK. Oil and condensate will be exported via tankers from the field's floating, storage and offloading unit. The field's recoverable reserves include 25.73bn m3 gas, 10.77mn m3 of oil and 2.11mn metric tons NGLs, adding up to a total of 40.51mn m3 oil equivalent. Statoil said last year that the field's expected production lifetime extends into the 2030s.