Norwegian independent oil firm Aker BP has made its first foreign acquisition, it said on March 24, buying a 50% stake in a British North Sea license from Italy’s Eni SpA.
Jointly controlled by Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke and Britain’s BP Plc, Aker BP was set up in 2016 to focus on oil and gas exploration and production from Norway’s continental shelf.
The Eni license, known as P2511, is located on the maritime border between Norway and Britain, where Aker BP already operates several discoveries in the Alvheim area on the Norwegian side.
“The key objective for the newly established partnership between Eni UK and Aker BP UK is to explore the resource potential across the UK border in the greater Alvheim area,” Aker BP said in a statement.
Eni will remain operator of the British license. Aker BP declined to provide a valuation for the Eni transaction.
In January, Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik told Reuters the company could expand its business to include investment outside Norway if it came across competitive opportunities.
The company had looked at some offshore assets put up for sale by Brazil's Petrobras, but decided not to bid, he added.
The British deal reflected a pragmatic approach to unlocking potential resources in one of the company’s core areas, an Aker BP spokesman said in an email.
“Unfortunately, the geological structures aren’t aligned with the Norway/U.K. borderlines,” he said.
Recommended Reading
Freshly Public New Era Touts Net-Zero NatGas Permian Data Centers
2024-12-11 - New Era Helium and Sharon AI have signed a letter of intent for a joint venture to develop and operate a 250-megawatt data center in the Permian Basin.
Now, the Uinta: Drillers are Taking Utah’s Oily Stacked Pay Horizontal, at Last
2024-10-04 - Recently unconstrained by new rail capacity, operators are now putting laterals into the oily, western side of this long-producing basin that comes with little associated gas and little water, making it compete with the Permian Basin.
With Montney Production Set to Grow, US E&Ps Seize Opportunities
2024-10-02 - Canada’s Montney Shale play has already attracted U.S. companies Ovintiv, Murphy and ConocoPhillips while others, including private equity firms, continue to weigh their options.
Classic Rock, New Wells: Permian Conventional Zones Gain Momentum
2024-12-02 - Spurned or simply ignored by the big publics, the Permian Basin’s conventional zones—the Central Basin Platform, Northwest Shelf and Eastern Shelf—remain playgrounds for independent producers.
Matador May Tap Its Haynesville ‘Gas Bank’ if Prices Stabilize
2024-10-24 - The operator holds 8,900 net Haynesville Shale acres and 14,800 net Cotton Valley acres in northwestern Louisiana, all HBP, that it would drill if gas prices stabilize—or divest for the right price.
Comments
Add new comment
This conversation is moderated according to Hart Energy community rules. Please read the rules before joining the discussion. If you’re experiencing any technical problems, please contact our customer care team.