JX Nippon Oil Gets OK For Mariner Field In North Sea

TOKYO (Nikkei)--JX Holdings Inc. (5020) subsidiary JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp. said Monday it will join Statoil ASA, Norway's state-run oil company, in developing the Mariner oil field, one of the largest confirmed offshore fields in the U.K. portion of the North Sea.

With recoverable reserves exceeding 250 million barrels, Mariner is expected to begin commercial production at 55,000 barrels a day in 2017. The Japanese company is to obtain 16,000 barrels of that total, in accordance with its interest in the project.

Total development costs and investments over the expected 30-year life of the field will top 7 billion dollars, or about 660 billion yen, of which JX will shoulder over 190 billion yen. The partners will continue to invest in offshore platforms and other production facilities over the next four years.

Mariner is part of interests that JX acquired from Italy's Eni SpA at the end of last year.

Currently, JX produces 120,000 barrels of oil and natural gas daily. Its output in Malaysia and other existing fields is declining, so it anticipates the U.K. field becoming a primary drilling area by 2017.

(The Nikkei, Feb. 19 morning edition)

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