Faroe wins ten exploration licences in Norway

The acquisition of ten Norwegian licences has been Faroe's largest to date. Picture: Getty

The firm said the win was its largest to date and joint largest in this licensing round, equal to the number of licences picked up by Centrica and Statoil.

The licences relate to both Norway’s portion of the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.

Chief executive Graham Stewart said: “This demonstrates the strength of our reputation in Norway and further positions us as having one of the largest licence portfolios on the Norwegian continental shelf.”

He added that Norway’s “progressive and highly successful” fiscal incentives for exploration combined with the company’s cash generating assets made the Scandinavian nation a key part of the firm’s business strategy.

The news came as North Sea focused driller Trap Oil updated the market, saying it had £16 million in cash at the turn of the year and remains “well funded to deliver its near-term objectives”.

The Aim-quoted firm also holds a 15 per cent stake in the Athena field, which is currently producing at a rate of about 7,000 barrels of oil a day.

The field is operating below optimum because one of the wells has been shut down to monitor pressures.

Trap said: “We continue to evaluate the most appropriate course of remedial action with the operator and our other field partners with such work planned to be carried out later this year.”

The firm added that it would seek to build its asset portfolio in the next UK licensing round.