StatoilHydro commences production in GOM

Q - the first StatoilHydro-operated deepwater field in the US Gulf of Mexico - started producing on 11 October

Q is located in Mississippi Canyon block 961. The natural gas field is developed as a subsea tieback to the Anadarko-operated Independence Hub facility in the eastern US Gulf of Mexico. StatoilHydro has a 50% working interest in the Q field.

With production from Q, StatoilHydro’s gas production in the US Gulf of Mexico is expected to grow by 40% in terms of volume.

StatoilHydro also has an 18.33% working interest in the Anadarko-operated Spiderman field, and 26.67% working interest in the ENI-operated San Jacinto field. Both fields are producing and are tied back to the Independence Hub.

Q is the 10th well to tie into the Independence Hub, which came on production in July 2007. According to Anadarko, no other floating platform in the world is installed at a greater sea depth - approximately 8,000 feet (2,400 metres) - than the Hub semi-submersible platform.

Production is expected to be ramped up towards the Hub’s capacity of 1 billion cubic feet (28.3 MSm3) of natural gas per day by the end of 2007.

StatoilHydro is the second largest leaseholder in deepwater US Gulf of Mexico and has a working interest in several promising discoveries, like Tahiti, Jack and Knotty Head.