Its US subsidiary bid $42.5 million to lease a 79,000-acre site 21 kilometres off New York state. The bidding lasted a hectic 33 rounds spread over two days.
Statoil's first US offshore wind lease could accommodate more than 1GW of offshore wind, with a first phase of 400-600MW.
"Statoil is well positioned to take part in what could be a significant build out of offshore wind in New York and other states over the next decade," said Statoil´s executive vice president for New Energy Solutions, Irene Rummelhoff.
The winning bid was more than two and a half times the $16 million generated by the previous nine offshore wind auctions combined, which totalled more than one million acres.
Iberdrola's US subsidiary Avangrid, Dong Energy, Innogy and wpd also participated in the auction, as did a state agency, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
New York's waters are especially valuable for wind development because of the size of the growing city and the lack of land for new power plants or transmission lines.
In New York state, ageing dirty power plants are also being retired.
