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Norway's Statoil offers to join Gulf of Mexico response team

https://www.chemnet.com   Jul 30,2010
Norway's Statoil would like to join the group of oil companies committed
to developing an initial $1 billion program to develop a rapid response system
for deepwater well blowouts following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Statoil
CEO Helge Lund told a press conference in Oslo Thursday.


"I have been in touch with the companies--ExxonMobil, Shell,
ConocoPhillips and Chevron--to support the plan and offer our contribution,
both technically and financially," Lund said.


The four companies July 21 said the initial $1 billion was to get the
ball rolling for the program, which would see a system set up to respond
quickly to any future incidents.


Statoil's operations in the Gulf of Mexico have been substantially
impacted by the drilling moratorium introduced after BP's Macondo oil spill.


Five wells are shut in and two drilling rigs are idle.


The cost to Statoil and its partners would be some $100 million assuming
the moratorium last for six months unless the rigs can be employed elsewhere.


"We are together with our partners trying to find a solution for the
rigs, but we need time," Lund said.


Statoil is the fourth largest license holder in the deepwater Gulf of
Mexico and the blowout has delayed an "exciting" exploration program, he said.


He stressed the substantial uncertainty around future operations in the
Gulf of Mexico.


"We need to get a better understanding of what a future regulatory system
will look like. We need a predictable regime to be able to operate efficiently
and safely in the future," he said.


Lund also expected more focus on increasing safety around deepwater
drilling globally as a result of the Macondo blowout.


Statoil's international production grew slightly in the second quarter of
2010 as a result of higher Gulf of Mexico production from the Tahiti and
Thunder Hawk fields where Statoil has a share and from the deepwater Agbami
field in Nigeria.


However, Statoil has trimmed its total production target for 2012 to
2.06-2.16 million boe/d because of its farmout of a 40% share in its offshore
Peregrino field in Brazil.


For 2010, the company is maintaining its production guidance at
1.925-1.975 million boe/d.


"Planned turnarounds in 2010 are estimated to have a negative impact on
the equity production of around 50,000 boe/d for the full year and around
120,000 boe/d in the third quarter of 2010," the company said.


Capital expenditure for 2010, excluding acquisitions and capital leases,
is estimated to be some $13 billion.
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