From the North Sea (NT): ATP UK looks like emerging from commercial limbo next year (SEN, 29/23) and resume work on its development projects, notably Cheviot (29/20).

Independent Oil & Gas, ATP’s partner in the Skipper and Blythe licences, revealed last week that Alpha Petroleum (UK) Holdings Ltd is seeking to buy ATP UK and is understood to want to retain the current management team. Deloitte has been seeking a buyer for ATP UK for several months.

Alpha was registered in the UK only in mid-November. It is the subsidiary of an unidentified foreign company which SEN understands is not currently a North Sea player. The proposed sale of ATP UK has to be approved in the US courts where the parent company recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The first hearing is set for 19 December, opening the way to a 23-day process. A company voluntary arrangement with UK creditors then has to be agreed, which will involve a 28-day period. So the sale will not be completed until February at the earliest.

Revival
The prospective new owner is said to be keen to see Cheviot revived. Work has been halted due to ATP’s financial woes since late 2012. Most of the contracts have lapsed, including that with Cosco for the construction of the planned floater hull. This was to be the first example of Moss Maritime’s Octabuoy, a semi production unit with storage. The hull is now owned by the yard, but there are no plans to re-acquire it, SEN understands.

Octabuoy is really suited for deep waters and a benign climate, not the northern North Sea conditions at Cheviot. Its selection sounded like a decision imposed on local management by the parent whose way of doing business – spending serious money before official approval had been secured – looked like a ready recipe for disaster.

So a new concept will need to be developed, although given the water depth of 170m, some kind of floater will be in the frame, but presumably a more conventional one the next time.

The drilling contract with Transocean semi GSF Arctic III is still in force, although it has not been difficult to find willing customers for sublets. Having recently finished a stint with Chevron, the rig next goes to Ithaca and there is another sublet arranged after that.

Independent is keen to see ATP back in action on the Skipper and Blythe licences, where appraisal drilling is in the plans. The company says a Skipper appraisal is scheduled for 2014. While this is a commitment well, drilling next year is questionable, according to ATP sources.