OMV has closed a deal with Norway’s Statoil that will see the Austrian company take over the former’s stakes in the deepwater Rosebank and Schiehallion fields west of Shetland.
The company already has existing interests in both fields. The deal was part of a larger US $2.65 billion acquisition by OMV of other Statoil assets in the Norwegian North Sea, which saw the Austrian company acquire 19% in the producing Gullfaks field and 24% in the Gudrun field.
On the Chevron-operated Rosebank field, currently under development, it has taken over Statoil’s 30% stake while on the BP-operated Schiehallion field – currently being redeveloped – it has taken Statoil’s 5.88% interest.
The transaction with Statoil also involves an R&D partnership between the two companies and the option of farm-in agreements for further exploration licences.
OMV said the move will substantially increase its reserve base, adding proven and probable reserves of about 320 MMboe. The production contribution from all the assets will be approximately 25,000 boe/d as of 1 November, 2013 and is expected to rise to about 40,000 boe/d during 2014 with a planned increase to approximately 58,000 boe/d during 2016.
Statoil said the transaction will enable it to redeploy around $7 billion of Capex, around $5.5 billion of which is pre-2020. Statoil still retains interests and operatorship of Gullfaks and Gudrun offshore Norway.
The agreement also saw Statoil farm down its interests in five exploration licences offshore the Faroe Islands, covering licences L006, L008, L009, L011 and L016. The Norwegian remains the largest licence holder in the Faroe Islands, and is preparing to drill two wells there in 2014.
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