Statoil Announces 11.93% Ownership Stake In Lundin Petroleum, Notes 'Strengthens Our Total Share Of The Value Creation'

Shares of Statoil ASA(ADR) STO were trading higher by nearly 2 percent at $11.78 early Thursday morning after the company announced it has acquired an 11.93 percent stake in Lundin Petroleum, a Swedish-based independent petroleum company.

Statoil noted that it paid SKr4.6 billion (approximately $540 million) for its minority stake.

According to the Financial Times, Lundin was the largest independent oil company in Europe following a discovery of petroleum fields off the coast of Norway in the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

"We consider this a long term shareholding," says Eldar Sætre, president and CEO of Statoil ASA. "The Norwegian Continental Shelf is the backbone of Statoil's business, and this transaction indirectly strengthens our total share of the value creation from core, high value assets on the NCS."