New operatorship in Venezuela

www.oilonline.com by: OilOnline Monday, February 17, 2003

Statoil was awarded operatorship of Block 4 in the Plataforma Deltana area offshore eastern Venezuela. The acreage lies in water depths ranging from 656 feet to 2,625 feet. Statoil offered a $32 million signature bonus and committed to drill three exploration wells at an estimated $60 million cost over the next four years to define the area's resource potential. Statoil currently has interests in two Venezuelan production licenses - one in the Sincor heavy crude project in the Orinoco Belt and in the LL 652 field in Lake Maracaibo.