Statoil Secures Rig for Angola Exploration

Statoil announced Friday that it has secured the Stena Carron (UDW drillship) vessel for a three-year contract that will see the rig use for exploration drilling in two pre-salt blocks in the Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola.

The contract, managed by Stena Drilling, has an estimated value of $700 million. Statoil has also secured two one-year extensions.

In Angola, Statoil will test the pre-salt potential of the Kwanza blocks by drilling wells in blocks 38 and 39.

Statoil said that it has also allocated the Discoverer Americas (UDW drillship) to East Africa to perform exploration drilling in Statoil-operated blocks in Tanzania and Mozambique. There, the firm plans to drill three-to-four wells that will test for further potential in Block 2, Tanzania and explore blocks 2 and 5 in Mozambique.

Statoil Executive VP for Exploration Tim Dodson commented in a statement:

"Statoil has now secured rig capacity for its planned global exploration program in 2013 and 2014. We have drilled four successful wells in Tanzania over the last year, and are now committed to drilling additional wells in Tanzania as well as in Mozambique and Angola.

"Together with a three-well campaign in the Gulf of Mexico, three Statoil-operated wells in Canada, and a one-year drilling campaign in the Barents Sea, this demonstrates an ambitious exploration program."

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