OSLO (Dow Jones) – Norway’s StatoilHydro ASA (STO) will acquire oil assets worth $1.8 billion in Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC), it said Tuesday.

The deal, subject to government approvals, boosts StatoilHydro’s ownership of Brazil’s Peregrino heavy oil field to 100 percent from 50 percent, and includes a 25 percent interest in the Gulf of Mexico Kaskida discovery.
An additional $300 million maximum pretax value will be paid to Anadarko relating to the Peregrino field, to be earned by 2020 conditional on future oil prices, StatoilHydro said.
The deal is in line with StatoilHydro’s deepwater and heavy oil focus, and significantly bolsters its reserves and resources, executive vice president Peter Mellbye said.
Peregrino, located in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil, holds expected reserves of around 500 million barrels, and is due onstream in 2010, but StatoilHydro said it “sees significant upside in the recoverable resources” there. Plateau production of 100,000 barrels a day will be reached within the first year.
Kaskida, one of the largest deepwater discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, is operated by BP plc. The other partners in Kaskida have preemption rights within the next 30 days but the stake would add to StatoilHydro’s existing portfolio in the area. BP holds 55 percent and Devon Energy Corp. 20 percent in Kaskida.
At 0831 GMT Tuesday, StatoilHydro traded down NOK1.10 or 0.7 percent at NOK158.40 against a slightly higher Oslo market. At the same time, the Stoxx 600 Oil and Gas index was trading 0.2 percent higher.