Statoil and JX Nippon have completed their transaction whereby Statoil has acquired JX Nippon’s 45% equity share in, and operatorship of, the UK licence for the Utgard field.

The pair entered into an agreement whereby Statoil will become the operator of the field earlier in June.

Through this transaction Statoil now has a 100% interest in UK Continental Shelf licence P312 which, with Norwegian Continental Shelf licence PL046, comprises the Utgard field.

Statoil previously acquired stakes in P312 from First Oil in October 2015 and Talisman Sinopec in December 2015. Statoil is the operator in PL046 with a 62% holding.

According to the company, a final investment decision for Utgard is planned before end-2016 with production start-up in 2020.

Utgard, previously known as Alfa Sentral, is a gas and condensate field spanning the UK-Norway median line. It is planned to be developed as a tie-back to existing infrastructure on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) for Sleipner, which Statoil operates.