Reuters: Norway's Statoil to reduce stake in U.S. shale formation

Statoil has sold part of its stake in a shale field in the northeast of the United States to Southwestern Energy for $394 million, the Norwegian energy firm said on Tuesday.

Like its rivals, Statoil is stepping up efforts to sell assets and preserve cash as the industry faces a slump in the oil price, which has fallen by around a half since June.

Shale oil is typically more expensive to produce than conventional oil.

Statoil said it had agreed to reduce its stake in the U.S. Southern Marcellus onshore asset to 23 percent from 29 percent.
MORE