SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Rex International's subsidiary Lime Petroleum is set to acquire a 40 per cent interest in two oil and gas licences in the Norwegian North Sea from exploration company MOL Norge.

The two licences are for sites located adjacent to the Balder oil field, which is operated by oil and gas producer Var Energi, and north of Lime Petroleum's two other licensed areas of exploration. The company holds a 30 per cent interest in one of these licences and a 20 per cent stake in the another.

Lime Petroleum has signed an agreement with MOL Norge, the current operator of the two licences, on April 14 and will take over as the new operator once it receives regulatory approval, said the oil and gas company in a bourse filing on Monday (April 18).

MOL Norge discovered oil and gas in these two licensed sites in 2019 through the Iving and Evra exploration well and it was appraised in 2021.

According to Rex International, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported that 1.82 million standard cubic metres of oil could be recovered from these areas.

Lime Petroleum's analysis, which also includes the use of the Rex Virtual Drilling seismic technology, suggests an upside potential in the recoverable volumes of the two discoveries. In addition, the licensed area includes several sizeable exploration prospects.

Mr Dan Brostrom, executive chairman of Rex International, said that Lime Petroleum's natural next step is to seek to be an operator since it has added non-operated production into its portfolio in 2021, along with non-operated field development projects.

Mr Lars Hubert, chief executive officer of Lime Petroleum, said that the acquisition of interests in these two licences offers a great opportunity for the company to step into the operator role and thereby further boost its competitiveness for more opportunities.