Statoil / ConocoPhillips: exchange of assets .

The Norwegian oil companies Statoil and U.S. ConocoPhillips announced Monday an agreement to exchange shares in exploration licenses off the coast of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.
Under the agreement, Statoil will get a 25% in 50 licenses won in 2008 by ConocoPhillips in the Chukchi Sea, north-west Alaska.
Drilling should begin there in 2012, said the two groups in a statement.
In exchange, Statoil will pay financial compensation of an undisclosed amount and ConocoPhillips will sell to a 50% in 16 of its licenses in the Gulf of Mexico and the 25% it holds in five other licenses already controlled by the U.S..
"We consider Alaska as a region that has great potential," he told AFP Dotterud Mari, a spokesman for Statoil.
The Norwegian group complete its portfolio in an area where it already has 16 licenses, said Ms. Dotterud.