Norwegian energy firm Statoil has agreed to reduce its working interest in the non-operated Marcellus shale formation in the United States following a $394 million transaction with Southwestern Energy , it said on Tuesday. “The transaction reduces Statoil’s non-operated holdings at an attractive price, demonstrating the value of the Marcellus assets,” head of Statoil’s U.S. onshore business, Torstein Hole, said in a statement. Statoil said it had agreed to reduce its stake in the U.S. Southern Marcellus onshore asset to 23 percent from 29. The divested share represents about 121 square km (12,100 hectares). Statoil’s third-quarter production from the Marcellus play amounted to 130,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which around 4,000 barrels came from the assets included in the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter next year, it added. (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Anand […]