Norway’s Statoil has signed a farm-in agreement with BP which will see it acquire a 30% equity share in four exploration licences offshore south Australia.

The licences – EPP 37, 38, 39 and 40 – are in the frontier Ceduna sub-basin within the Great Australian Bight, and cover an area of more than 24,000sq km (9,266 sq miles) ranging out into ultra-deepwater territory.

BP has already completed a 12,000sq km (4,633-sq-mile) 3D seismic survey over the area and is finalising the data processing. Next steps include maturation of drillable prospects and continued environmental studies, according to Statoil.

The work program includes drilling up to four wells within the largely untested licence area. BP will continue to act as operator. The commercial terms of the transaction were not revealed, and it is subject to Australian government approval.

“With this agreement we gain access to a vast, underexplored area with high-impact potential,” said Pål Haremo, senior vice president for global new ventures in exploration at Statoil. “This is in line with our strategy, supporting our long term growth ambitions by providing early access at scale in a new and promising basin, positioning us for high impact exploration.”