据石油新闻2020年8月27日伦敦报道，挪威能源巨头Equinor 27日在奥斯陆表示，在经历了一次令人失望的地震勘探战役以后，Equinor决定放弃其在南非近海的大面积勘探探区，转而专注于更具吸引力的上游资产。
在收购了埃克森美孚公司领导的南非Tugela South区块的35%股份以后，前身是挪威国家石油公司(Statoil)的Equinor在2015年进入了南非。目前，Equinor在南非东海岸以外海域拥有4份深水勘探许可证，其中3份是与埃克森美孚公司合作。
另外，记者未能立即联系到埃克森美孚公司就报道置评。这篇报道称，埃克森美孚公司也已决定离开南非上游探区。
Equinor的一位发言人说：“在对已采集的地震数据进行评估以后，我们的勘探投资组合的竞争日益激烈，与其它机会相比，这些机会的排名还不够好。”
这位发言人说，在获得监管部门批准退出这些区块以后，Equinor将不再持有南非的上游许可证。
在Equinor最后一次扩大其在南非的勘探足迹不到两年之后，Equinor就购入了埃克森美孚公司的5万平方公里(19305平方英里)深水德班勘探许可证的50%权益。
李峻 编译自 石油新闻
原文如下：
Equinor to drop South African exploration portfolio after poor seismic results
Norway's Equinor has decided to drop its extensive exploration acreage offshore South Africa to focus Equinor, formerly Statoil, entered South Africa in 2015 after buying a 35% stake in the Tugela South block led by ExxonMobil. It currently has four deepwater exploration licenses off the country's eastern coast, three of which are partnered with Exxon.
Separately, Exxon was not immediately available to comment "Following an assessment of acquired seismic data and with increased competition within our exploration portfolio, these opportunities do not rank well enough compared to other opportunities," an Equinor spokesman said.
Following regulatory approvals to exit the blocks, Equinor will no longer hold upstream licenses in the country, the spokesman said.
The move comes less than two years after Equinor last grew its South African exploration footprint with a 50% farm-in into Exxon's huge, 50,000 square km (19,305 square miles) Deepwater Durban exploration license.
