CNOOC Ready to Explore Offshore Iceland

Platts says that an official from China's CNOOC International has announced that the company has started preparation work for oil and gas exploration in Iceland's offshore Dreki Area.

This makes CNOOC the first Chinese upstream company to explore for oil and gas in the Arctic. The company, along with partners Icelandic Eykon Energy and Norwegian company Petoro, has been granted the exploration licence by Iceland’s national energy authority Orkustofnun. CNOOC has a 60 per cent share with Eykon and Petoro holding 15 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

Platts reports that CNOOC would not say if it is interested in acquiring more Icelandic offshore exploration licenses in the future when asked.

Eykon Energy managing director Gunnlaugur Jonsson has said earlier that the company was keen to apply for other exploration licenses with CNOOC in the future.

Globally, CNOOC plans to drill roughly 155 exploration wells this year and acquire approximately 26,700 km of 2-D seismic data and 19,400 sq km of 3-D seismic data.