OilVoice | Dana Petroleum Awarded Eight New Blocks Offshore Norway

Dana Petroleum Awarded Eight New Blocks Offshore Norway

23 December 2008

Dana Petroleum announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Dana Petroleum Norway AS, has been awarded interests in eight offshore blocks under four new Production Licences (PL) by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. These awards have been made through the 2008 Norwegian APA Licensing Round, on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Dana’s new licence areas are as follows;

PL 494
Block 2/9: 40% interest with Dana as Operator

PL 497
Blocks 7/7, 7/8 and 7/11: 25% interest (Det Norske Operator)

PL 504
Block 25/7: 38.5% interest (Det Norske Operator)

PL 513
Blocks 6506/6, 6507/1 and 6507/4: 50% interest (Maersk Operator)

The first three licences are situated in the North Sea and the fourth licence (PL 513) is in the Norwegian Sea.

Block 2/9 is located in the Southern North Sea (SNS) close to the Valhall/Ekofisk area where Dana already holds a licence (PL440). Blocks 7/7, 8 and 11 are located in the SNS and close to several producing fields in the UK sector as well as between discoveries in the UK and Norway. Block 25/7 is adjacent to Dana’s Jotun producing oil field (Dana 45%) and neighbouring exploration licences PL027B and D (Dana 40%). This is a highly prospective area within a short tie-back distance of the Jotun FPSO. The blocks in PL513 are located immediately west of the large Victoria gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea.

All the awards received were on Dana’s top priority list for the APA 2008 Round. The work programs include firm wells on PL 497 and PL 504.

Dana’s Chief Executive, Tom Cross commented:
“Dana is delighted to have won these attractive new licences, which significantly extends our exploration programme in Norway’s proven oil and gas areas. In addition, Dana has applied for licences in Norway’s 20th Round where the focus is on the less mature, frontier areas. The awards for the 20th Round are expected during the first quarter of 2009. Overall, Dana now holds a substantial position offshore Norway, with 14 production licences on the Norwegian Continental Shelf covering some 25 blocks.”