COMPROMISE SEEN LIKELY OVER CONOCO-STATOIL DISPUTE
  Norway is expected to seek a compromise
  solution to defuse a row between Den Norske Stats Oljeselskap
  A/S &lt;STAT.OL> (Statoil) and Conoco Norge A/S over which firm
  will operate the Heidrun oil field, government sources said.
      The sources, who asked not to be named, said the government
  will likely recommend that Conoco be allowed to continue as the
  field's operator through the development phase, with Statoil
  taking over only after production starts in the early 1990s.
      Oil Minister Arne Oeien told Reuters the government had
  today discused the Heidrun matter but that no final decision
  had been taken and several questions remained unresolved.
      It was unlikely the government would announce its decision
  on Heidrun operatorship until after Thursday's cabinet meeting
  and after discussing a proposed solution with both companies,
  the sources added.
      This spring Norway's state-owned oil company Statoil
  exercised an option in the Heidrun field exploration license
  that, if approved by the government, would allow it to relieve
  Conoco as Heidrun operator, a move sharply criticised by
  Conoco.
      Heidrun is often cited by the government and industry as
  the most likely candidate for the first field development
  project on the Haltenbanken exploration tract off central
  Norway.
  

