Tanzania’s Piri gas discovery cushions Statoil’s exploratory expenses

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Statoil’s net income for the second quarter has surged to $1.94 billion from the previous $692 million in the same period of 2013 with earnings per share up to $604 million from $222 million.

Statoil’s adjusted earnings from upstream activities in Norway decreased from $5.07 billion to $3.89 billion. Earnings from upstream activities outside Norway increased to $1.01 billion, while earnings from the midstream increased to $386 million.

Following the piri discovery this quarter the company reports its exploration expenses were $435 million, down 225.7 million compared to same quarter last year mainly due to increased capitalisation as a result of successful wells.

The discovery brings the total of gas in-place in Block 2 up to approximately 20 tcf, adding volumes for a future large-scale gas infrastructure development.

The discovery in the Piri prospect by Statoil and co-venturer ExxonMobil’s sixth discovery and the fifth high-impact discovery in Block 2 offshore Tanzania saw an additional two to three trillion cubic feet (tcf*) of natural gas.

Piri-1 was drilled by the drillship Discoverer Americas at a well location two kilometres southwest of the Lavani-1 well at 2,360-metre water depth.

Going forward President and CEO Helge Lund says Statoil will continue progressing its even as it continues with reducing its staff and support services.

“We have also established six specific high-impact projects addressing technical efficiency across the company, and we are now executing the first wave. We are on track, and will provide an updated status when we report our results for the full year,” says Lund.

Read the full Q2 results here.

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