The Stella field production platform
ISRAELI oil and gas firm Delek Group has made a bid for the North Sea portfolio Chevron put on the market last year, with a £2bn price tag.
Reuters reported that Delek had confirmed in a regulatory filing in Tel Aviv that it was in talks to buy Chevron’s oil and gas fields in the UK North Sea as part of its international expansion plans.
Delek did not provide financial details in the filing but said a deal could be completed this year.
The company has already shown it is willing to invest big sums in the North Sea. It acquired Aberdeen-based Ithaca Energy in 2017 in a deal that valued the firm at £1bn.
Ithaca has expanded in the North Sea under Delek’s ownership. The company increased its exposure to the flagship Greater Stella development last year by acquiring stakes from Dyas UK and Petrofac in a deal worth up to around $280m.
The sale of the Chevron portfolio would represent a significant development in the shake up in the North Sea triggered by the crude price plunge from 2014.
Some majors have sold North Sea assets to raise funds to invest in what they see as more promising areas, including the shale fields of the US.
Chevron has made a $33bn bid to acquire Anadarko, which has extensive holdings in the Permian shale basin in Texas and New Mexico.
Earlier this month America’s ConocoPhillips agreed to sell its North Sea portfolio to UK-based independent Chrysaor Energy for $2.7bn.
Delek describes itself as one of Israel’s biggest companies and a pioneer of exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, where it has made big finds with partners.
The Central North Sea portfolio Chevron plans to offload features four operated fields east of Aberdeen, including Alba and Captain, and stakes in other assets. The group’s UK production averaged 26,300 barrels oil equivalent per day in 2017.
Last month Premier Oil was reported to have linked up with US private equity firm Apollo Global Management to bid for the Chevron portfolio.
No comments:
Post a Comment