Statoil grabs hold of British waters

British oil and gas exploration companies said bringing Norway's Statoil to the table at a North Sea operation was a win for the industry.

Independent exploration and production company Jersey Oil & Gas, along with their joint venture partner CIECO Exploration and Production Ltd., announced the sale of a 70 percent stake in reserve areas located in the central British waters of the North Sea to Statoil.

Jersey Oil & Gas CEO Andrew Benitz said drilling into the license area could start as early as 2017.

"We are delighted to have secured a farm-out partner of the caliber of Statoil," he said in a statement.

Statoil said it spent about $2 million in cash for the interest. The license area in question lies in an area containing the Buzzard oil field, Britain's largest. The Norwegian company said the acquisition gives it a stronger foothold in the British continental shelf that it sees as a promising new area.

"It adds additional acreage and volume potential to our UK portfolio and we could potentially drill this prospect next year," Jenny Morris, Statoil's head of British exploration, said in a statement.

Norway is among the leading oil and natural gas exporters to a European economy looking to lessen its dependence on Russia. In the wake of the British referendum in June to leave the European Union, industry leaders have raised questions about the future for investments in the North Sea.

Statoil already has operations in the British waters of the North Sea and said it has the ambition to become a major regional explorer, "with the belief that considerable hydrocarbon resource remains undiscovered."