CALGARY (Reuters) - Husky Energy Inc, Canada’s No. 3 oil producer and refiner, said it has acquired two exploration blocks off the coast of Labrador by committing to spend more than C$130 million ($122 million) exploring its new holdings.

Husky, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, acquired Block 3 in the Atlantic Ocean covering 233,712 hectares (902 square miles), and the 236,981 hectare (915 square miles) Block 1 in a rights auction staged by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.
Husky is already one of the biggest Canadian offshore producers, with its White Rose oil project in the Atlantic southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, producing nearly 110,000 barrels per day.
Its new properties are considered natural gas targets, with the remote region off the east coast of the Canadian mainland already home to several big finds from the last exploration rush in the region in the early 1980s.
Indeed, Husky has 17.13 percent working interest in the 3.1 trillion cubic feet Bjarni and North Bjarni Significant Discovery Licenses (SDL), located within block 3 and in the 900 billion cubic foot Gudrid SDL in block 1.
Graham White, a spokesman for Husky, said the company is not yet poised to explore its new properties, but must spend its commitment before 2014.
“It’s a very recent acquisition so we aren’t making any statements on what we will be doing,” he said. “But we have to spend more than C$100 million over the next five years.”
Husky gained sole interest in Block 1 with a C$10.2 million commitment.
It has 75 percent stake in Block 3, with partner Suncor Energy Inc, the No. 1 Canadian oil exploration and refining firm, holding the remainder. The two committed to spend C$120.2 million exploring the block.
Other winners in the four blocks that were awarded were Chevron Corp, which bid C$46.5 million for control of one of the four parcels. Vulcan Minerals Inc and Investcan Energy Corp will share control of another with a C$9.6 million commitment.
Shares of Husky were up 60 Canadian cents at C$42.70 early on Friday afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange. ($1=$1.06 Canadian)