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Statoil (STO) Acquires 45% Equity Share in UK License P312

Norwegian oil giant Statoil ASA STO has inked a deal to acquire JX Nippon’s equity share of the UK license for the Utgard field.

Statoil will gain operatorship and 45% equity share in the UK license upon fulfillment of the agreement. Also, the company will obtain complete ownership of the UK license P312. Notably, the Norwegian energy firm had already acquired stakes from First Oil in Oct 2015 and Talisman Sinopec in Dec 2015.

Statoil, the operator in Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) license PL046, has a holding of 62%.

Utgard, which spreads across the U.K.-Norway median line, is a gas and condensate field. It was formerly known as Alfa Sentral. The field is intended to be developed as a tie-back to existing infrastructure on the NCS for Sleipner, which is operated by Statoil.

A final investment decision for Utgard will be taken before year-end 2016, while production is expected to start in 2020.

Statoil is a Norway-based major international integrated oil and gas company. Though the company has operations in all major hydrocarbon-producing regions of the world, it has an upstream focus on the NCS. Due to its strong offshore exposure, Statoil is a leader in subsea production.

In recent times, Statoil has delivered strong exploration results and added significantly to its resource base by making several high impact discoveries. The latest finds give the company access to new regions of Norway, Russia, Azerbaijan, Tanzania as well as Australia, thereby paving the way for long-term growth.

The company is in a very strong financial position with current net debt-to-capital employed ratio of 21.8%. The company also actively returns cash to investors through regular dividend payouts and share buybacks.

Currently, Statoil carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some better-ranked stocks in the oil and gas sector include CVR Refining, LP CVRR, ReneSola Ltd. SOL and Braskem S.A. BAK. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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STATOIL ASA-ADR (STO): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
BRASKEM SA (BAK): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
RENESOLA LT-ADR (SOL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
CVR REFINING LP (CVRR): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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