Aker BP in Storklakken Sale
Thursday 23 March 2017
Aker BP has sold a stake in its operated Storklakken discovery off Norway to Polish player PGNiG under a requirement from the authorities as it seeks to submit a field development plan later this year.
PGNiG Upstream Norway will acquire a 35% interest in production licence 460 that hosts the North Sea oil find, with Aker BP to be left with a 65% operating stake on completion of the transaction, according to a statement from the Polish company, which did not disclose the value of the deal.
Aker BP had been ordered by the Oslo government to sell down part of its 100% interest in the field by a 1 April deadline as a prerequisite for filing of the plan for development and operation, scheduled for the fourth quarter.
The licence, awarded in 2008, is due to expire on 1 March 2018.
The newly minted operator, formed out of the merger between Det Norske Oljeselskapet and BP’s Norway assets last year, aims to develop Storklakken as a subsea tieback to its Alvheim floating production, storage and offloading vessel via the nearby Vilje field, with production due to start in 2020.
The satellite discovery is estimated to hold between 7 million and 12 million barrels of oil equivalent, with PNGiG to gain a net share of 3.85 million boe in proportion to its licence stake.
The latter already holds a 24.243% slice of the Aker BP-operated Vilje field.
PGNiG said the stake acquisition would be funded from the operating cash flow of its Norwegian operations, including an interest in Aker BP’s producing Skarv field.
Its president Piotr Wozniak said the deal “is another proof of our commitment to increase production from Norway” and would extend its existing co-operation with Aker BP.
Meanwhile, Aker BP is seen as a potential buyer for further assets likely to come up for sale over the next year off Norway, having earlier made a series of acquisitions, as it seeks additional acreage within its existing areas of operations, according to analyst Anders Wittemann of Wittemann E&P Consulting.
Aker BP could account for as much as a third of possible upcoming transactions that could include sales by Dong Energy, Bayerngas and Engie E&P, as well as a package from Statoil including a stake in the Martin Linge field under development by operator Total.
Aker BP was previously understood to be in the frame to acquire ExxonMobil’s operated assets off Norway, though HitecVision-owned Point Resources is now understood to be in pole position for the putative deal.