Statoil Expands Gas Supply Deal with Britain's SSE

Norway's Statoil (STO) said on Monday it had expanded five-fold a long-term gas sale agreement with Britain's second-biggest utility SSE.

From Oct. 1, Statoil will increase supplies to SSE to 2.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year from an original 0.5 bcm under a six-year deal announced last year, the company added in a statement.

"The agreement with SSE is another confirmation of Statoil's position as a long-term reliable supplier of gas to the UK," the company said in a statement.

In addition Statoil has a separate contract with SSE to supply 0.5 bcm per year to the St Fergus terminal until October 2022.

The deal with SSE follows an extension of a gas supply agreement with Britain's Centrica (CPYYY) announced on May 13.

Centrica's agreement with Statoil added another 2.3 bcm per year to original 5 bcm agreed under a 10-year deal in 2011.

Statoil said its long-term supply agreements with SSE andvCentrica represent almost 15 percent of Britain's annual gas demand and were enough to meet the needs of nearly 8.5 million British homes.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis)