Tullow buys in Norway, plans Netherlands exit
At the same time, Tullow plans to exit the Netherlands by selling its southern North Sea gas assets.
The fields, some of which were only acquired last year, produce about 18,000 barrels a day and may fetch $500m, according to analysts at Barclays.
Tullow said the deals will increase focus on oil exploration and bring participation in 16 wells in Norway during the next two years.
Tullow said in a separate statement that first Jubilee Phase 1A well in Ghana has started pumping more than 16,500 barrels of oil a day. At the same time, the Okure-1 exploration well hasn’t encountered commercial oil resources in the Deepwater Tano licence.
Tullow is not planning to exit Guyana having relinquished the Georgetown licence last month. It has been in talks about new licences in the country.
Meanwhile, Connemara Mining has discovered two gold zones on its Wicklow/Wexford licences following a soil sampling programme.
Some 800 samples were collected at the site, resulting in the discovery of a number of zones with significant gold enrichment, most notably at Tombreen and Knocknalour.
Connemara Mining chairman John Teeling said: “The second phase of exploration by Hendrick Resources Ltd continues to yield positive results. I am very pleased with the discovery of previously unknown gold occurrences on two of the Connemara licences.
“Follow-up close-spaced soil sampling will be conducted early in 2013 to refine drill targets. The full programme is being carried by Hendrick at no cash cost to Connemara.”
