Royal Dutch Shell’s subsidiary Norske Shell has completed its previously announced NOK4.52bn ($526m) sale of its stakes in the Draugen and Gjøa fields located offshore Norway to OKEA.
Image: Norske Shell offloads stakes in NCS fields to OKEA. Photo: courtesy of suwatpo at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
In the Draugen field, Norske Shell held an operated stake of 44.56% and in the Gjøa field owned a stake of 12%, prior to the transaction with the Norwegian company.
The stakes in the two fields located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) represented around 14% of the company’s total production in 2017. Along with the stakes, Norske Shell also agreed to transfer 153 of its staff to OKEA.
In June, Shell had entered into the deal with the Norwegian oil and gas production and development company, as part of its global $30bn divestment program.
Norske Shell managing director Rich Denny said: “Today’s deal completion was achieved despite a tight timeline from the Sales and Purchase Agreement in June 2018. It was made possible by good collaboration between Shell and OKEA and with constructive dialogue with the Norwegian Authorities.”
Shell said that it will continue to be committed to Norway. As part of it, it will continue to take part in the Ormen Lange and Knarr fields as an operator apart from taking part in the Troll, Valemon and Kvitebjørn fields.
On the other hand, its subsidiary Norske Shell will continue to be the technical service provider of the Nyhamna Gas Processing Plant, and partner in the Norwegian Full Scale CCS project Northern Lights and also in the CCS test facility located at Mongstad.
OKEA, which is backed by private equity firm Seacrest Capital, has assumed operatorship of the Draugen field located in the PL093 license. The company previously said that it aims to extend Draugen’s field life into the 2040s by focusing on cost efficient operations and through additional resources within the license and near field exploration.
Discovered in 1984, the Draugen field is contained in water depths of 250m in the Norwegian Sea, 150km north off the coast of Kristiansund.
OKEA CEO Erik Haugane said: “We are very pleased with the work that we have accomplished with Shell since the signing of the agreement on 20 June 2018.
“Thanks to our comprehensive and dedicated work together, we are able to close this transaction on schedule. This is the beginning of a new chapter for OKEA, as Operator of one of the most prestigious fields on the NCS.”