The French oil and gas major’s decision to quit the Gina Krog project is to focus on other opportunities in Norway which will continue to be a key country for its operations.
Total exploration & production president Arnaud Breuillac said: “This sale is in line with our objective to optimize the Group’s allocation of capital by efficiently managing our portfolio of assets.
“With the recent acquisition of Maersk Oil & Gas, announced on August 21, the Group’s position in the North Sea will be significantly strengthened.”
The transaction, which would need approvals from the Norwegian government, will double KUFPEC’s stake in the Norwegian offshore field to 30%. In 2016, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation subsidiary had entered into the Gina Krog field by buying a 15% stake from Total for $300m.
With the additional 15% stake in the field, KUFPEC will help itself with nearly 34MMboe in net reserves and about 9,000boe/d of production. It would also increase KUFPEC’s production in Norway to approximately 25,000boe/d.
KUFPEC CEO Shaikh Nawaf Saud Nasir Al-Sabah stated: “KUFPEC continues to execute its strategy to grow in profitable projects in Norway, and this transaction builds on our 2016 acquisition of Greater Sleipner Area assets from TOTAL, which included a 15% interest in Gina Krog.”
Developed with an investment of NOK31bn ($3.98bn), the Gina Krog oil and gas field had commenced production in late June. It is operated by Statoil which has a stake of 58.7%. The other partners apart from the KUFPEC are PGNiG Upstream International and Aker BP with stakes of 8% and 3.3%, respectively.
Image: Statoil is the operator of the Gina Krog project in the North Sea. Photo: Ole Jørgen Bratland/Statoil.
