StatoilHydro buys into US oil assets in Brazil, Gulf of Mexico

Mumbai: StatoilHydro, the state-controlled Norwegian oil and gas company, has bought out partner in a Peregrino heavy oil project in Brazil and acquired 25 per cent of the deep water Kaskida discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, from Anadarko Petroleum of the US, for a total of $2.1 billion.

Satoil said it paid Anadarko Petroleum Co $1.8 billion in cash plus an additional consideration valued at $300 million for assets in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil.

StoilHydro said the acquisitions are part of a strategy to reduce its reliance on Norwegian deposits as they deplete and diversify internationally.

StatoilHydro will now own all of the projects, subject to government approvals.

The Peregrino field has ''expected reserves of approximately 500 million barrels, excluding identified upsides'' and ''is expected to come on stream in 2010'', SatoilHydro said.

The company also saw a ''significant upside in the recoverable resources in Peregrino, both by a further increase in today's 20 per cent recovery factor and by including additional resources outside the Peregrino main field''.

Kaskida is one of the largest deepwater fields in the US Gulf of Mexico, and is 55 per cent owned by BP and 20 per cent by Devon Energy.