Royal Dutch Shell has signed an agreement to divest its New Zealand upstream business to OMV for NZ$794m ($578m).
The businesses that are part of Shell’s New Zealand upstream business include Shell Exploration NZ Limited (SENZL), Taranaki Offshore Petroleum Company Of New Zealand (TOPCO), and Energy Petroleum Taranaki Limited (EPTL). It also includes Energy Petroleum Holdings Limited (EPHL), Shell Taranaki Ltd, Energy Infrastructure Ltd (EIL), Shell New Zealand (2011) Limited, and Energy Petroleum Investments Limited (EPIL).
The NZ upstream business include the Maui and Pohokura offshore fields, as well as tank farms located in Taranaki, New Zealand.
The Maui gas field is located 35km offshore Taranaki coast in water depths of 110m (363ft), while the Pohokura gas field lies in the Taranaki Basin in water depths ranging between 35m (114ft) and 50m (164ft).
Royal Dutch Shell is an integrated energy company based in the Netherlands, while OMV is an Austrian oil and gas company.
The transaction is expected to strengthen OMV’s business operations in New Zealand.
Total has completed the acquisition of Maersk Oil from Denmark-based integrated transport and logistics company, AP Moller and Maersk.
The acquisition also includes the assumption of Maersk Oil’s debt amounting to $2.5bn.
Total will issue 97.5 million shares worth $4.95bn to AP Moller-Maersk, representing 3.7% of the former’s capital.
Based in France, Total is an exploration and production company, while Maersk Oil is an oil and gas company based in Denmark.
The transaction will enable Total to strengthen its asset base in Algeria and the US Gulf of Mexico.
