Mobil Awarded Exploration Acreage On Grand Banks
18 September 1998
Mobil Awarded Exploration Acreage On Grand Banks
FAIRFAX, Va.--Sept. 18, 1998--Mobil Corporation announced today that the company's Canadian subsidiary was awarded six new oil and gas exploration licenses on the Grand Banks, offshore Newfoundland, Canada.The licenses, which total more than 1 million acres, bring Mobil's exploration holdings offshore Grand Banks to 2.2 million gross acres.
Mobil, in conjunction with three other companies, was awarded the new licenses by the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board (CNOPB) as a result of making exploration expenditure commitments over the next five years totaling about $100 million (US).
Mobil won all the permits on which it bid during this round.
Mobil holds between 30 and 50 percent interest in each of the six new licenses and is the only one of the four companies involved in all six bids.
Two licenses are located in a new exploration area on the eastern edge of Canadian waters known as the Flemish Pass Basin. The remaining four licenses are located within the Jeanne d'Arc basin where the majority of offshore production and development is currently concentrated.
"We are very pleased with the result of this license round which further enhances our leadership position in Atlantic Canada," said Lou Allstadt, Executive Vice President, Mobil Corporation. "Our current development projects at Hibernia, Terra Nova and Sable will add about 90 thousand barrels per day of oil and 260 million cubic feet per day of gas to Mobil's production.
"In addition, other discoveries we have made in the area as well as future exploration success should contribute to even further increases in production."
Mobil has the largest energy portfolio in the Eastern Canada offshore oil and gas industry, and leads in significant discoveries, reserves, production and active development.
Offshore Newfoundland, Mobil owns 33 percent of the Hibernia oil development, which began producing last November, and 22 percent of the Terra Nova development, which is scheduled to begin production by 2001.
The company also holds interests in 11 other significant discoveries and in 14 exploration permits. Further drilling is planned to commence later this year on the Hebron discovery (approximately 40 percent Mobil interest) which lies between the Hibernia and Terra Nova developments, upon arrival of Global Marine's drilling rig Grand Banks.
In Nova Scotia, Mobil owns 50.8 percent of Sable Offshore Energy Inc., which is on schedule to begin producing natural gas late next year. The company also holds interests in 13 significant discoveries, and in exploration licenses and permits covering 3.4 million acres off Nova Scotia.
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