Wellesley Petroleum and Equinor Energy have agreed to swap certain oil and gas assets on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Under the sale and purchase agreement, Equinor will purchase a 40% operatorship interest in licences PL090 JS, PL248 I, and PL925, containing the Grosbeak and Kallåsen discoveries.
Wellesley CEO Chris Elliott said that the deal will provide a balanced non-operated oil and gas development portfolio for Wellesley, with favourable environmental, social and governance (ESG) characteristics.
Elliott added: “We are proud of our role in operating a successful appraisal campaign on Grosbeak and moving the asset through the DG1 development phase.”
As part of the deal, Wellesley will acquire a 10% stake in licence PL942, which contains the Ørn discovery.
The firm will also purchase participating interest of 20% in licences PL878 and PL878 B that comprise the Atlantis and Canon discoveries.
Elliott noted: “At this point, Equinor is the best-placed company to operate the project, given their development experience in the area.
“We will continue to contribute as an active non-operating partner to secure a 2022 PDO submission for Ørn and to mature Atlantis and Canon as subsea tiebacks to the Kvitebjørn facility.”
Upon the completion of the transaction, Wellesley will have a 23.7% stake in the Grosbeak discovery and a 40% interest in each of the Grosbeak and Kallåsen discoveries.
Earlier this year, Equinor and its partners Wellesley Petroleum, DNO Norge, and Petoro have made oil and gas discovery at production licence 923 near Norway’s Troll field in the North Sea.
The firm estimates the licence to contain 44-69 million barrels of oil, with recoverable resources anticipated to be between seven and 11 million standard cubic metres of oil equivalent.
