BP close to selling Shearwater

NEWS: BP is rumoured to be close to finalising a sale of its 28% stake in the Shearwater field to Tailwind Energy, a North Sea explorer headed by ex-CNOOC veteran Steve Edwards and financing to be obtained from shareholder Mercuria.BP has previously agreed to sell the asset to Premier Oil in 2020 but that deal fell through as a result of the collapse on oil prices and COVID-19. Premier Oil had also agreed to buy BP's Andrew asset at the time.BP is also divesting the Andrew asset and it is understood that is being sold to another par...

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Premier announces landmark acquisitions with BP and Dana for USD816 million

Premier announced the below this morning. Premier is pleased to announce the proposed acquisitions of the Andrew Area and Shearwater assets from BP for US$625 million, and an additional 25 per cent. interest in the Premier operated Tolmount Area from Dana for US$191 million plus contingent payments of up to US$55 million (together the “Acquisitions”). Premier is also pleased to announce the proposed extension of its existing credit facilities...

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EnQuest acquires remaining Magnus stake

EnQuest has exercised its option to acquire the remaining 75% interest in Magnus from BP, together with an increase in the interests of the Sullom Voe Terminal (to 15.1%), Ninian Pipeline System (to 18.0%) and Northern Leg Gas Pipeline (to 41.9%). The transaction will add c.60mmboe of 2P reserves and 10mmboe of 2C resources. To fund the transaction, EnQuest is looking to raise USD138 million in a 3-for-7 rights issue at 21p/share, which represents a 46% discount to the closing share price of 6 September 20...

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Majors pick up acreage in Brazil

Equinor press release: Equinor, ExxonMobil and Petrogal Brasil presented the winning bid (75.49% profit oil) for the Uirapuru production sharing contract in the Santos basin. Petrobras exercised its right to enter the consortium and will be the operator with 30% equity. The final equity distribution is Petrobras (30% operator), Equinor (28%), ExxonMobil (28%) and Petrogal Brasil (14%). The pre-determined signature bonus to be paid by the bidding...

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Bidders pull out of Alba sale by Statoil and Mitsui

Deloitte has launched the sale of Endeavour Energy UK. The US parent company of Endeavour Energy UK is going through bankruptcy proceedings and Deloitte has been appointed to monetise the company’s UK unit. Endeavour Energy UK owns a 25.7% in Alba amongst other North Sea assets. This is larger than Statoil’s 17% or Mitsui’s 13.3% stake which is being marketed. Although Statoil and Mitsui have been trying to sell their stakes since the end of...

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BP looks to sell out of Gulf of Suez

BP is running a process to sell its more mature fields in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The sale is hoped to raise between USD500 - 1,000 million. The exit of the Gulf of Suez will allow BP to focus more on its deepwater gas portfolio in the country's offshore in the West Nile Delta and Eastern Mediterranean including the Zohr field which it entered at the end of 2016. BP has 100% of the fields in the Gulf of Suez area and operates them in a JV with...

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Mubadala enters Zohr - acquires 10% from Eni

Mubadala has agreed to acquire a 10% interest in Zohr from USD934 million. Mubadala will acquire an interest in the Shorouk concession which contains the Zohr field. The super giant field came onstream in December 2017, 28 months after its discovery. The field is currently producing 400mmcfpd and planned to reach plateau by the end of 2019. For Mubadala, this adds a world class asset with long term cash flows into its investment portfolio. Musabbeh...

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Tortue unitisation across Mauritania and Senegal

The governments of Mauritania and Senegal have signed an Inter-Governmental Cooperation Agreement in another step forward for the Tortue gas development which straddles the border of the two countries. The field will now be unitised with an initial split of resources 50:50 and a mechanism for future equity redeterminations based on actual production and other technical data. FID of the field remains on track, targeting year end 2018 with first...

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EnQuest agrees Thistle decommissioning with BP

Following on from last year's acquisition from BP, EnQuest has agreed with BP to undertake the management of the decommissioning activities for Thistle and Deveron. EnQuest will receive USD30 million in cash for management of the decommissioning and for taking on 3.7% of the gross decommissioning costs of the Thistle and Deveron fields, subject to a cap of USD80 million. EnQuest estimates its exposure to costs is currently less than the cash being received. EnQuest also has an option, exercisable over a 12-month period, to receive a further USD20...

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Endeavour endangers Alba sale for Statoil and Mitsui

Statoil and Mitsui started marketing their stakes in the Alba heavy oil field in the North Sea at the end of 2017. The field is located in a complex reservoir and developed from a steel platform tied to a floating storage unit. The field has been marketed by partner Endeavour before without success. Endeavour put its stake up for sale in 2015 but failed to attract sufficient interest. Sources have revealed that interest in the current sales...

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Kosmos: An unfinished West African story

Kosmos has had a busy 2017 chasing a high risk high reward oil play and working up its Senegal/Mauritania gas resources. In the second half of the year Hippocampe and Lamantin both came in dry ending the company's campaign for higher value oil. It can now focus on developing the c.40tcf of gas found at Tortue, Teranga, Yakaar and BirAllah. It has hopefully found the right partner in BP who farmed-in in late 2016. Although not generally seen...

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Zohr record breaker

In record time for a deepwater gas development of this scale, Eni has announced first production from Zohr. The field was discovered in August 2015 and FID taken in early 2016 - Eni achieved first gas from discovery in 2.5 years. Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever made offshore Egypt and is located in the Shorouk block. The field has begun production at 350mmcfpd and is expected to grow to 1bcfpd by mid-2018. The speed of development is a...

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Kosmos extends position in Mauritania

Kosmos noted in its Q2 results that it had farmed in to a 15% non-operated interest in Block C-18 Mauritania. The farm-in extends Kosmos' postion in this recently proflific play which contains the Tortue gas discovery to the south. Tullow Oil holds 90% WI (State 10%) and will reduce its interest to 75% post transaction, whilst retaining operatorship. The block is deepwater (over 2,300m depth) and has recently completed a 600km2 3D seismic ca...

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BP continues foray into clean energy and US gas supply

BP has agreed to acquire Clean Energy Fuels Corp's biomethane production assets for USD155 million, expanding BP's gas supply portfolio in the US. BP will take over Clean Energy Fuels Corp's existing and two new biomethane production sites as well as supply contracts from third parties. As part of the deal, the Clean Energy will also signed a long-term agreement to purchase biomethane from BP. Press release: CHICAGO, Ill. and NEWPORT BEACH, Calif....

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What E&Ps do best: EnQuest acquires North Sea assets from BP for USD85 million

EnQuest has agreed to acquire a package of assets from BP, which includes a 25% operated interest in the Magnus field and various infrastructure interests, adding 15.9mmboe of 2P reserves and 4.2mboepd or production. EnQuest will consolidate its infrastructure interests by acquiring 3% in the Sullom Voe Terminal (currently hold 3%), 9% of the Northern Leg Gas Pipeline (currently hold 5.9%) and 3.8% of the Ninian Pipeline System (currently hold...

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BP Christmas shopping

BP has announced a series of high profile acquisitions in the past few weeks. The deals are in line with BP's longer term strategy of building in regions where they can gain "scale and materiality", although the company has moved more quickly than expected based on OGInsight's recent conversation with them, where BP said they were in divestment and portfolio rationalisation mode. This potentially signals a view of an improving oil price environment...

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Eni: Bringing in successive partners for Zohr

On 28th November, Eni announced the divestment a 10% interest in Zohr to BP for USD375 million plus pro-rata reimbursement of past costs (c.USD150 million net), bringing total consideration to USD525 million. BP also has an option to acquire an additional 5% interest on the same terms before the end of 2017. On 12th December, Eni announced that it had divested a further 30% interest in Zohr to Rosneft for USD1.125 billion and USD450 million...

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BP: Adapting to the times - Where were they now? (Part 2)

The OGInsights team recently met with the BP corporate strategy department to discuss how the strategic direction of the company has changed since the collapse in oil prices. In this two part entry, we look at where BP were a year ago and where they are now in terms of strategic thinking. Part 2: Where are they now? With oil prices appearing to stay lower for longer, BP’s priorities have changed and all large M&A is on hold. Focus is on cost cutting, targeting breakeven of USD 50-55/bbl over the next year and farming down high working interests...

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BP: Adapting to the times - Where were they then? (Part 1)

The OGInsights team recently met with the BP corporate strategy department to discuss how the strategic direction of the company has changed since the collapse in oil prices. In this two part entry, we look at where BP were a year ago and where they are now in terms of strategic thinking. Part 1: Where were they then? At the beginning of 2015, BP already began planning for a "lower for longer" scenario, however growth was still very much top of mind. Reserve replacement was a key challenge to the company's longer term existence and the USD2 billion...

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Det Norske-BP: the Norwegian megaforce

On 10th June, Det Norske announced that it will merge with BP Norge through a share purchase transaction to create the leading independent E&P company on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The company will be renamed Aker BP, with Aker and BP as main industrial shareholders holding 40% and 30% of the company respectively; the remaining 30% in Aker BP will be held by Det Norske’s other current shareholders. Note that Aker is currently Det Norske’s...

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