Norway’s Arctic Oil Hub Dream Fades as Lundin No Help to Statoil

Lundin Petroleum AB and Statoil ASA ended talks on jointly building an oil terminal in Norway’s Arctic, dealing a blow to the nation’s hopes of creating a hub for Barents Sea fields in an effort to revive its falling output.

Stockholm-based Lundin’s Alta and Gohta discoveries are too far from Statoil’s Johan Castberg deposits to warrant joint development, and the resource estimate for the Swedish explorer’s discoveries is too uncertain to commit to any investments in an onshore oil terminal or pipelines, said Ashley Heppenstall, its chief executive officer. The talks never got beyond a preliminary level, he said.