Statoil Completes Australian Shale Deal

Statoil and PetroFrontier Corp (PFC) have agreed that Statoil shall acquire 80% of PFC's working interest in the four exploration permits and two exploration permit applications in the Southern Georgina play in Northern Territory in Australia, the Norwegian company said in a statement.

The Southern Georgina Basin asset will be Statoil's first shale operatorship outside the US. Statoil will assume operatorship from 1 September 2013, and will carry 100% of the initial exploration phase capped at $50 million.

The first exploration phase will continue through 2014, at which time Statoil will decide whether to continue the exploration to further de-risk the play.

Statoil farmed into PFC's four permits (EP 103, 104, 127 and 128) in the South Georgina Basin in June 2012.