By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Feb. 8 -- Italian company Agip SPA agreed to acquire 7.9% of Mikkel field in the Norwegian Sea from Statoil ASA.
The deal also includes an option to acquire 7.9% of the nearby Tyrihans field.
Previously, licensees in Mikkel, which straddles PL 092 and 121, were ExxonMobil Corp. 33.48%, Norsk Hydro AS 10%, and Statoil 56.52%.
The subsea development will begin producing gas and condensate in autumn 2003, with output piped to Statoil's Åsgard B platform for processing.
Mikkel's recoverable reserves are calculated at 20 billion cu m of dry gas and 35 million bbl of condensate.
Statoil, which operates both fields, also concluded agreements with Agip and Fortum Corp. of Finland on the loan and sale of gas.
"This sale marks an important step in aligning ownership interests in the Halten Bank area," said Henrik Carlsen, Statoil's executive vice-president for exploration and production in Norway.
At the same time, Statoil, Agip and Fortum settled an arbitration dispute relating to investment at the Kårstø treatment complex north of Stavanger for handling gas from Åsgard.
