Statoil has been awarded operatorship for two licences in a bidding round for exploration and production sharing agreements in Libya. The group will have a 100 per cent holding in licence Cyrenaica 94, and a 50-50 share with British Gas (BG) in licence Kufra 171.

The bids were based on a so-called 'X factor', which is the percentage share Statoil needs to cover its investments and return, with a signature bonus in addition.

"Competition for blocks in Libya is fierce, and we're very pleased to get our first operatorships in this country," says Brian Mitchener, vice president for global exploration in Africa in Statoil’s International Exploration & Production business area.

"We plan to shoot seismic in 2007 and expect to drill the first exploration well in 2008 at the earliest."

The X factor for licence 94 was 24.9 per cent. Statoil also has to pay a signature bonus of USD 2.95 million.

In licence 94, the group is committed to gathering 3,000 kilometres of 2D seismic and drilling one well.

For licence 171, the X factor was 19.8 per cent and the signature bonus for Statoil and BG totalled USD 1.001 million.

In licence 171, the group will shoot 2,000 kilometres of 2D seismic and drill two wells.