Hibiscus to acquire 30% stake in new licence

PETALING JAYA: Independent oil and gas (O&G) exploration and production company Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, through its jointly-controlled entity Lime Petroleum Norway AS (Lime Norway), has entered into an agreement to acquire a 30% stake in a new licence in the North Sea.

The company said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that Lime Norway had executed an agreement with Lundin Norway AS1 for a 30% stake in licence PL410 in the North Sea, in which it expects to drill in 2016.

Once completed, Lundin, the operator of the licence, will have a 52.35% stake in it, while Lime Norway will have 30% and Statoil Petroleum AS2, 17.65%.

The licence is located south of the Edvard Grieg field on the Utsira High in the North Sea in a water depth of about 100m, and has a number of exploration targets currently being evaluated. “Drilling could take place in late-2016,” the company said in the statement.

Lime Norway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lime Petroleum Plc, which, in turn, is a jointly-controlled entity in which Hibiscus Petroleum owns a 35% stake.