Noreco Announces Sale Agreement for Its Share in Zidane-1 Licence

The Norwegian Energy Company (Noreco) has announced the sale of its 20 percent stake in the PL435 Licence, which covers exploration of the Zidane-1 gas discovery on Haltenbanken.

The company says it has agreed a sale of the asset with OMV Group for 180 million NOK (Norwegian Krones), or around €23.35 million. The amount will be paid to Noreco on completion of the sale.

The Zidane-1 discovery is estimated to contain between 5 and 18 billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas. A second exploration well, Zidane-2, is due to be drilled by the end of the year. If Zidane-2 contains commercially viable gas, Noreco will be entitled to volume-dependent consideration, once certain levels are reached. This part of the agreement is dependent on approval of a Plan for Development and Operations (PDO) which includes Zidane-2, the company says.

The sale has still to be approved by Norwegian authorities.