STATOIL has bought into a North Sea exploration licence amid the crude price plunge in a multi-million dollar move which bucks the trend of majors reducing their exposure to the area.

The Norwegian giant has acquired a majority interest in a licence in the Moray Firth from Jersey Oil & Gas and CIECO, underlining its faith in the exploration potential of the UK North Sea.

“This transaction underpins Statoil’s exploration strategy of exploiting prolific basins and deepening in core areas. It further strengthens our position on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf and brings a potential impact opportunity in to our portfolio,” said the head of Statoil’s North Seas exploration business, Jez Averty

Statoil will pay $2m (£1.5m) to buy into the P 2170 licence and has agreed to cover up to $25m costs of a well which it confirmed could be drilled next year.

The deal will likely be welcomed by industry leaders in the North Sea, where oil and gas firms have slashed investment and shed thousands of jobs in response to the sharp fall in oil prices since 2014.

The downturn has encouraged majors to speed their retreat from the area as they concentrate on what appear to be more promising growth prospects overseas. Shell and BP have decided to focus North Sea investment on a relatively small number of big fields and put other assets up for sale.

Industry leaders are concerned that North Sea exploration budgets have been among the prime casualties of the downturn, leaving drilling activity at worryingly low levels.

But Statoil says it has ramped up exploration activity in the UK, with interests in 30 licences.

The company has been investing heavily in the development of the giant Mariner oil field East of Shetland.

However, in October Statoil said it had decided to push the start up back from 2017 to the second half of 2018. It noted the projected costs of the development had risen around 10 per cent over the original $7 billion plan.

Statoil will pay Jersey Oil & Gas, $1.2m for 42 per cent of the P2170 licence. Jersey Oil & Gas was formerly known as Trap Oil.

The deal will help the company in its efforts to realise value from the rump of the extensive North Sea portfolio that Trap Oil developed helped by the £30m acquisition of Banchory- based Reach Oil & Gas in 2011.

Trap Oil lost £44m in 2014 when the producing Athena oil field became significantly loss making following the fall in the oil price.

Andrew Benitz and Ronald Landsell took charge of Trap Oil in July last year after it acquired the Jersey Oil & Gas business they ran in a £500,000 deal. Renamed Jersey Oil & Gas, Trap Oil decided to focus on producing assets in the North Sea.

It relinquished some North Sea licences earlier this year.

Jersey Oil & gas will retain an 18 per cent interest in the P 2170 licence.

Mr Benitz said: “To have a leading international operator such as Statoil joining our partnership group, serves to demonstrate the significant value-potential of this asset.”

He noted Jersey Oil & Gas wants to buy producing North Sea assets and is currently in talks about a number of potential targets.

There are lots of assets up for sale in the North Sea, including fields that are producing profitably at current oil prices.

“It’s certainly a buyers market,” said Mr Benitz.

He believes the company would be raise debt or equity funding to finance suitable deals. The company has a strong relationship with a bank which has indicated it would provide backing.

Statoil bought a 28 per cent interest in P2170 from CIECO for $800,000. CIECO retains 12 per cent.