Stavanger, 3 March 2011: Norwegian Energy Company (Noreco) in September 2010 announced an agreement to sell its shares in the Oselvar and Enoch fields in Norway to Marubeni Corporation. The parties have now been informed that the buyer does not yet fulfil the requirements applicable to a licensee on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Approval by relevant Norwegian authorities is one of the conditions precedent to the sale and purchase agreement ("SPA"), and the transaction has therefore not yet been completed. In accordance with the SPA, the parties are now negotiating in good faith alternative solutions.

Oselvar is an oil and gas field under development, located in license PL274 and PL274CS in the southern North Sea. Noreco has a 15 percent interest in the field, representing reserves of 8.1 million barrels of oil equivalents (mmboe). Production is expected to start in the fourth quarter 2011. License PL274 also contains another discovery named Ipswich.

Enoch is an oil field located in the Central North Sea, straddling the border between Norway and UK. Noreco owns 4.36 percent of the field through its 21.8 percent share in license PL048D. Reserves were 0.3 mmboe at the end of 2010.

Marubeni Corporation is one of the biggest Japanese trading houses with business divisions in energy, food, metals & mineral resources, plant & ship, chemicals, forest products, transportation machinery, lifestyle, information technology, power projects & infrastructure, finance, logistics & IT, and real estate development. Its business spreads all over the world, with 118 offices in 71 countries. Energy is one of its focus areas and Marubeni currently has oil and gas fields in the UK, US, Qatar, India and Sakhalin.

Contacts:
Rune Martinsen, VP Strategy & Investor Relations (+47 992 83 853)
Kjetil Bakken, Investor Relations Manager (+47 91 889 889)

 

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to §5-12 vphl (Norwegian Securities Trading Act)