CNOOC Awarded a Licence in Dreki Area Offshore Iceland

Iceland’s national energy authority Orkustofnun has granted a new offshore licence to CNOOC Iceland ehf. as operator with 60 % share, Eykon Energy ehf with 15 % share and Petoro Iceland AS with 25 % share.

CNOOC Iceland ehf. is a daughter company of CNOOC International Ltd. Eykon Energy ehf. is a daughter company of Eykon AS in Norway. Petoro Iceland AS, Branch in Iceland, is licensee on behalf of the Norwegian State according to the decision of the Norwegian Parliament of 16 December 2013, in accordance with the agreement between Iceland and Norway of 1981 on the continental shelf in the area between Iceland and Jan Mayen and the Agreed Minutes to that agreement, dated 3 November 2008. Petoro Iceland AS, Branch in Iceland, undertakes all obligations and requirements of the Norwegian State according to the licence and as a party to the cooperation agreement on the execution of the licence.

The licence is granted by referral to the provisions of Act No. 13/2001 on prospecting, exploration and production of hydrocarbons, with later amendments, Regulation No. 884/2011, along with information from the application and other information from the applicants.

Orkustofnun sought the opinions of the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture in accordance with Act No. 13/2001 and evaluated the opinions based on the application and the work programme involved, which extends over 12 years. Orkustofnun made thorough evaluation of the technical and geological capacity of the applicants to handle the extensive activities associated with the licence. Furthermore, Orkustofnun studied the financial capacity of the parent companies of the applicants in order to ensure that the applicants have sufficient financial strength to conduct the activities for the long-term and can handle the corresponding environmental and safety elements. The granting of this third licence by Orkustofnun concludes the third licensing round for the Dreki Area, which had an application deadline of 2 April 2012.

[mappress]
Press Release, January 22, 2014