Equinor UK has signed an agreement to acquire the UK arm of Canadian company Suncor for a total of $850m (£707.86m).
The acquisition gives the Norwegian oil giant a 29.89% non-operated interest in the Buzzard oil field, located off the coast near Aberdeen. It will also gain a 40% operated interest in the Rosebank development, 80 miles west of Shetland.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval. With this transaction, Equinor will gain production equivalent to around 15,000 barrels of oil per day in equity share.
The additional interest in the Rosebank development, worth $250m, is contingent on UK government investment. If successful, this would double Equinor’s stake in the area. With expected recoverable resources of around 240 million barrels of oil, Rosebank is one of the biggest prospects on the UK Continental Shelf.
The company has been increasing its reach in the North Sea of late following an announcement on 1 March that it had acquired equity interest in five discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf from Wellesley Petroleum.
“This transaction is in line with Equinor’s strategy of optimizing our oil & gas portfolio and deepening in our core countries” says Philippe Mathieu, executive vice president for Exploration and Production International.
Equinor has been present in in the UK for more than four decades, and supplied the equivalent of 29% of the UK’s natural gas demand in 2022.
