Statoil's chief: Helge Lund.
St Malo lifts Statoil's Gulf hopes
The ultra-deep St Malo project has strengthened Statoil's confidence in its decision to invest in offshore Gulf of Mexico projects, Statoil's chief executive Helge Lund said.
"A few years ago we decided to increase our activities in the Gulf of Mexico," Lund told Reuters in an interview. "St Malo has really strengthened our confidence."
Statoil said it has upped its interest in the deep-water St Malo field in the Gulf to 21.5% by exercising its pre-emption rights and breaking up a sale partner Devon Energy had planned to make to Maersk.
St Malo is operated by Chevron and is expected to come on line in 2014 along with the Jack field. Both are developments in the lower tertiary trend of the deep-water Gulf of Mexico - a geological formation seen as a potential source of significant new supplies in the offshore fields.
Statoil is the third largest leaseholder in these ultra-deep waters, which include an additional two discoveries. Statoil is also currently engaged in two deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling operations.