The Bay du Nord discovery, located approximately 500 kilometers northeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, was announced in August. Drilling of a lateral stage was completed this week, confirming a high potential discovery (high impact discovery*). Additional potential resources have been identified and require further delineation.

This discovery is Statoil’s third in the Flemish Pass basin. The Mizzen discovery is estimated to contain a total of 100 to 200 million barrels of recoverable oil. The Harpoon discovery, announced in June, is still being evaluated and volumes cannot yet be confirmed.

Tim Dodson, executive vice president for exploration at Statoil.

The Bay du Nord well encountered light oil with a density of 34 API and a high quality Jurassic reservoir with high porosity and high flow characteristics.

– It is exciting that Statoil is opening a new oil field off the coast of Newfoundland. This brings us closer to the goal of becoming an offshore operator in Canada, said Tim Dodson, executive vice president of exploration at Statoil.

– As we have only drilled a few wells in a large permitted area, which in total covers approximately 8,500 square kilometers, additional work is required. This involves acquiring new seismic data, in addition to more in-depth exploration and demarcation drilling, before permit partners can evaluate an optimal development solution in this new, relatively unexplored basin, Dodson adds.

The West Aquarius drill

Successful drilling results in the Flemish Pass Basin demonstrate that Statoil’s exploration strategy of rapidly entering frontier areas (“early access”) and investing in high-potential exploration opportunities (“impact high”) bears fruit. As an early player in this field, Statoil confirmed its understanding of the geology and opened a new oil field off the coast of Canada. The Flemish Pass basin has the potential to become a central area for Statoil production after 2020.

All three discoveries are located at a water depth of approximately 1,100 meters. The mizzen was drilled with the Henry Goodrich semi-submersible rig (2009). The Bay du Nord and Harpoon wells were drilled with the West Aquarius semi-submersible platform (2013).

Statoil is the operator of Mizzen, Harpoon and Bay du Nord with a 65 percent stake. Husky Energy owns a 35 percent stake.

(*High impact discovery = > 100 million barrels of oil equivalent [foe] net for Statoil or > 250 million barrels of oil equivalent in total)

About Statoil:
Statoil is an international energy company present in 34 countries. With 40 years of experience in oil and gas production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, we use innovative technologies and business solutions to responsibly meet the world’s energy needs. We are headquartered in Stavanger, employ approximately 23,000 people worldwide and are listed on the New York and Oslo Stock Exchanges.

For more information:

Investor Relations:
Hilde Merete Nafstad, director,
+47 957 83911 (cell)

Morten Sven Johannessen, Statoil USA Investor Relations Director,
+1 2039786950 / +1 2035702524

Media:
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Ola Morten Aanestad
Director of Communications, Statoil North America
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Caron Hawco
Communications Manager, Statoil Canada, Offshore
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+1 709-749-0601 (cell)

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