Three companies are reportedly looking to buy ExxonMobil’s Norwegian offshore assets estimated to be worth around $1 billion.
According to last week’s news report by Bloomberg, who quoted people familiar with the matter, Aker BP, HitecVision, and Neptune Oil & Gas are in talks with Exxon to buy stakes in the company’s oil assets offshore Norway.
Bloomberg also reported the deal could be reached before the end of the first quarter next year.
ExxonMobil operates four assets offshore Norway, the Balder (100 percent), Ringhorne (100 percent/77 percent for East), Jotun (45 percent) and Sigyn (40 percent). The company’s joint-venture portfolio includes ownership interests in more than 20 producing fields and 50 licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Aker BP is a new oil and gas player on the Norwegian Continental Shelf formed by merging BP’s Norwegian branch, BP Norge, and oil company from Norway, Det Norske. The merger was completed at the end of September. Aker BP has a portfolio of 95 licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, of which it operates 47.
Pursuing its ambitions to expand on the NCS, Aker BP in October bought eight Norwegian licenses from Tullow. The company on Friday made an oil discovery east of the Frigg field in the North Sea, off Norway. On Saturday, it started oil production at the Ivar Aasen field after four years of development.
The portfolio of the Norwegian private equity investor HitecVision includes Point Resources, CapeOmega, Verus Petroleum, and a number of oilfield services companies.
Neptune O&G, an oil & gas investment company established last year by Former Centrica manager Sam Laidlaw, is funded by The Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners.
Offshore Energy Today Staff