German oil and gas firm Wintershall has acquired stakes in several oil and gas fields in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) from Statoil for $1.25bn.
The transaction forms part of Wintershall’s plan to increase its Norwegian production from about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) to approximately 60,000 boepd.
The deal includes Wintershall acquiring a 5% interest in the Gjøa field and a 24.5% stake in the Vega field.
As part of the deal, Wintershall also acquires a 24% stake in the Aasta Hansteen development project, a 19% interest in the Asterix discovery and a 13.2% stake in the Polarled pipeline project.
The firm will also acquire stakes in four other exploration licences near Aasta Hansteen and assume operatorship of the Vega production field.
The stakes in the assets encompass reserves and resources of about 170 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Wintershall chairman of the board of executive directors Rainer Seele said: "With this transaction, we are taking a major step towards achieving our goal of establishing ourselves as one of the leading oil and gas companies in Norway.
"Last year we took over the operatorship of the Brage platform and commenced the self-operated production of oil and gas in Norway."
The transaction consists of a cash consideration of $1.25bn and another $50m consideration contingent on Aasta Hansteen milestones.
The deal will enable Statoil to redeploy about $1.8bn of capital expenditure for the period from the effective date until the end of the decade.
Statoil and Wintershall have also agreed to work together in developing the exploration potential of the Vøring Basin.
Image: The $1.25bn deal includes a 24% stake acquisition in the Aasta Hansteen development project. Photo: courtesy of Wintershall Holding GmbH.
.gif)
