Drilling of the exploration well Gygrid in  PL348, 10km west of Draugen Field in the Norwegian Sea has started. The well is being drilled by the rig Seadrill West Alpha, and the well is being operated by StatoilHydro. Results are expected in June. The Gygrid prospect is situated in a very interesting license in a prolific hydrocarbon province with infrastructure in place, see attached map. There are already two discoveries on the license (Galtvort and Tau) and 5 other identified prospects. Noreco's resource estimate for Gygrid is 16-28 million barrels of oil equivalents gross. The unrisked potential for Noreco in the license is estimated to 15-20 million barrels of oil equivalents net to Noreco.

 

Noreco runs a selective exploration program, with focus on exploration wells that have a high value creation potential for Noreco. In 2009, Noreco will be involved in five exploration wells, of which two have been drilled already resulting in the recent significant Gita discovery in Denmark. Gygrid is the third well on the programme. The next well to start is Grossbeak in Norway operated by Wintershall , where drilling is expected to start shortly.

 

For further information please contact,
Scott Kerr, CEO  (+47 992 83 890)

Einar Gjelsvik, VP Investor Relations (+47 992 83 856)