To avoid delays of one of the largest oil and gas developments in Norway in recent times – the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea – the country’s ministry of petroleum has decided to allocate ownership shares to the partners involved.

As the companies themselves couldn’t reach the agreement, the ministry of petroleum has proposed the distribution of ownership in the following manner: Statoil (operator) 40.0267%, Lundin Norway 22.6%, Petoro 17.36%, Det norske oljeselskap 11.5733% and Maersk Oil 8.44%.

To remind, while submitting the development plan for the Johan Sverdrup in February this year, the majority of partners, excluding Det norske, asked the ministry to determine the final allocation of resources in Johan Sverdrup, based on the following proposal: Statoil 40.0267%, Lundin Norway 22.12%, Petoro 17.84%, Det norske oljeselskap 11.8933% and Maersk Oil 8.12%.

The companies have until August 15 to sign the revised ownership split. When all five companies have signed the agreement, the Ministry will approve the plan for development and operation for the Johan Sverdrup field. The ministry’s decision may be challenged by an appeal to King in Council and/or in the Civil Court system.

Ownership dispute

The partnership, consisting of Statoil, Lundin Norway, Petoro, Det norske oljeselskap and Maersk Oil, has recommended Statoil as the Operator for all phases of the field development and operation.

However, Det norske disagreed with the proposed ownership split. The Johan Sverdrup field consists of two areas to be unitized into one field development. More precisely, the field covers three production licences: PL 501/501B; PL 265 and PL 502:

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com

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