LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - BG Group said on Mondayit had acquired stakes in three exploration blocks off the coastof Canada's Newfoundland months before its planned merger withRoyal Dutch Shell.
The British oil and gas company bought from Spain's Repsol the non-operated positions in the Atlantic basin,located around 200 kilometres from St. John's, Newfoundland, itsaid.
"This provides the company with access to early stageexploration in a proven prospective basin ahead of the firstwell being drilled later this year," it said in a statement.
The value of the deal was not disclosed.
The three blocks are operated by Norwegian energy companyStatoil.
Shell is on track to complete its proposed $70 billionacquisition of BG group in early 2016, but BG said it was "inline" with its strategic exploration focus to enter new basins.
Oil companies have sharply slashed exploration budgets overthe past year in response to the halving of oil prices to below$50 a barrel since June 2014.
Shell said on Monday it is pulling out of exploration inArctic waters off Alaska for the foreseeable future and couldtake a hit of up to $4.1 billion after failing to find enoughoil. (Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
