XOM Exxon Mobil Corp

By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland

OSLO-Norway's Statoil said Friday it had taken control of the U.K. part of the Utgard gas field in the North Sea by acquiring a 45% stake from Japan's JX Nippon for an undisclosed amount, after previously snapping up stakes from First Oil and Talisman Sinopec.

The Norwegian state-controlled oil producer expects to make a final decision to develop Utgard later this year and to start production in 2020. The field is expected to hold about 60 million barrels of oil equivalent, in the form of natural gas and low-density hydrocarbons called condensates.

After the transaction, Statoil would control all of the U.K. P312 license. The Utgard field, previously known as Alfa Sentral, extends from the P312 license across the border into Norway's PL046 license, which is 62% controlled by Statoil with partners including Lotos AD, ExxonMobil Corp. and Total SA.

The acquisition is part of Statoil's plan to add more resources to existing infrastructure in the North Sea and extend its lifetime. The company plans to pump Utgard's gas and condensate to the nearby Sleipner field, a 1993 field that has become a key hub for processing North Sea gas and exporting it by pipeline to the European market.

Statoil entered Utgard in October by acquiring a 24% stake in the U.K. P312 license from First Oil for $15 million, and then added another 31% in December from Talisman Sinopec as part of a wider asset swap.

Write to Kjetil Malkenes Hovland at kjetilmalkenes.hovland@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2016 04:14 ET (08:14 GMT)

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