Norway’s Statoil has farmed out a 25% working interest in a high-potential operated exploration licence offshore Mozambique to Japan’s INPEX Mozambique, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the INPEX Corporation.

The licence, which consists of two blocks under one agreement, is located in areas 2 and 5 in the deepwater Rovuma basin offshore Mozambique.

“The farm-down reflects the attractiveness of Statoil’s acreage in Mozambique. Bringing INPEX onboard allows the companies to diversify geological risk while sharing the potential upside. The first of two wells in the licence will be drilled during the second quarter by the drillship Discoverer Americas,” said Nick Maden, senior vice president of International Exploration at Statoil.

The blocks are located in water depths varying from 300-2,500 m (984-8,202 ft). The area covers 8,041sq km.

“Our presence in Mozambique is in line with Statoil’s exploration strategy, focusing on early access in a prolific region. Large gas discoveries have recently been made north of the acreage and the prospectivity for hydrocarbons in the Statoil-operated blocks is promising,” said Maden.

The block will continue to be operated by Statoil Oil & Gas Mozambique A.S. with a 40% participating interest. The other partners are INPEX Mozambique, Ltd. (25%); Tullow Mozambique Ltd. (25%), a subsidiary of Tullow Oil; and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, E.P., the state oil company (10%).