OSLO (Thomson Financial) - StatoilHydro said it was the highest bidder on 16 Chukchi Sea leases offshore Alaska, including 14 of them in partnership with Italy's ENI.
The Norwegian firm, which will be operator of all the leases, said the blocks are located 60 kilometres north of the Burger gas discovery in the Chukchi Sea, an area considered a frontier region with no existing production or infrastructure.
The Chukchi Sea is located offshore Alaska northwest of Prudhoe Bay.
'We will use our experience and competence from 30 years of oil and gas operations in harsh environments on the Norwegian continental shelf on the awarded leases,' said Bill Maloney, StatoilHydro's senior vice president of Global Exploration.
StatoilHydro already has significant experience of harsh environments, with significant interests offshore Norway, Russia and Canada.
The Chukchi Sea Lease Sale area comprised of 5,354 blocks of 5,609 acres in water depths ranging from 20-80 meters. alastair.reed@thomson.com ar/ejp COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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