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Statoil (STO) Hits Small Gas Discovery in Gemini North Well

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Statoil ASA , along with partners OMV and Petoro, has hit a small gas deposit in the Gemini North well. The well is situated northeast of the Wisting discovery in the Barents Sea. Oil was also confirmed in the well.

The well drilled in license PL 855, represents the first one to be drilled in the acreage awarded in Norway’s 23rd licensing round.  

Located about 30 kilometers northeast of the Wisting discovery, the find lies in the Hoop area. The find is estimated to hold recoverable volumes of about 0.4-1 billion standard cubic meters (bcm) or about 2-6 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Moreover, oil was confirmed in the well amounted to about 0.5-2 million barrels of recoverable oil.

This is the third discovery in Statoil’s 2017 Barents Sea exploration campaign, following the Kayak oil discovery announced on July 3 and the Blåmann gas discovery announced on Jul 17.

The semisubmersible drilling rig, Songa Enabler, was used to drill the well. The rig will now be transferred to the Korpfjell prospect in license PL859 in the Barents Sea southeast.  

Statoil is the operator of Gemini North (PL855) with a holding of 55%. Other partners include OMV and Petoro with an interest of 25% and 20%, respectively.

Statoil is also the operator of Korpfjell (PL859) with a holding of 30%. Other partners are Chevron Corporation (CVX - Free Report) , Petoro, Lundin and ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) having an interest of 20%, 20%, 15% and 15%, respectively.

 Statoil has increased its drilling plan for 2017 by about 30% compared with 2016. The company intends to drill about 30 exploration wells in 2017, of which more than 50% will be drilled on the NCS. In 2016, the company, as operator and partner, has finished a total of 23 exploration wells. This raises optimism and is likely to boost shareholder value as well.


   
Shares of the company have gained 5.9% over the last six months compared with the industry’s increase of 0.6%.

Statoil currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the same space includes Global Partners LP (GLP - Free Report) , which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Global Partners delivered a positive earnings surprise of 1200.00% in the preceding quarter. The company beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 415.30%.

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