Yahoo Finance Statoil Enhances Presence in Norwegian Continental Shelf
Statoil ASA STO recently declared that it has been awarded interests in 29 exploration licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf (“NCS”) in connection with the Award in Predefined Areas (“APA”) for 2016.
Of the 29 exploration licenses awarded, the company will remain the operator of 16 and work as a partner in 13. Investor confidence on the Statoil stock is reflected in its price chart. Shares of the company appreciated 61% in the last one year, while The Zacks categorized Oil & Gas-International Integrated industry gained 32.6% in the same time span.
The award is similar to that of APA 2015, when a record number of licenses were awarded. This year’s deal includes one commitment well, PL894, in the Norwegian Sea. Statoil has an interest of 40% in the license, while Wintershall is the operator with an interest of 40% and Petoro is a partner with 20%. The license comprises a work commitment to drill an exploration well within three years of the award. A potential discovery will have a follow-up prospect and may make way for important additional volumes to Aasta Hansteen. The award proves Statoil’s increased pursuit for new resources in the Norwegian Sea.
In APA 2016 Statoil was awarded new production licenses in all of the three provinces on the NCS – Barents Sea, Norwegian Sea and North Sea.
The company has received one license on the Barents Sea, of which it will remain the operator. It has received 10 licenses on the Norwegian Sea and will it operate five of them. In the North Sea, it has won 18 licenses and will operate 10 licenses.
Statoil’s endeavors to improve recovery of resources in mature fields are commendable. The company has operations in all major hydrocarbon-producing regions of the world, with an emphasis on the NCS. We believe that Statoil is well positioned to sustain its steady production growth over the next few years on the back of its large resource base at NCS.
In recent times, Statoil has delivered strong exploration results, adding significantly to its resource base through several high impact discoveries. The latest finds give the company access to new regions of Norway, Russia, Azerbaijan, Tanzania as well as Australia, thereby ensuring long-term growth.
Statoil currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked players in the same space include Braskem S.A. BAK, Suncor Energy, Inc. SU and Noble Midstream Partners L.P. NBLX. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Braskem posted a positive earnings surprise of 107.79% in the last reported quarter.
Suncor Energy posted a positive earnings surprise of 300.00% in the preceding quarter. It had an average earnings surprise of 40.55% in the four trailing quarters.
Noble Midstream Partners posted a negative earnings surprise of 77.78% in the last reported quarter.
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