Page 12 - Euroil Week 03 2020

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil
RockRose cedes control of North Sea hub
RockRose Energy executive chairman Andrew Austin.
UK
LONDON-LISTED RockRose Energy has ceded operatorship of the Greater Brae Area (GBA) in the UK North Sea to its Abu Dha- bi-based partner TAQA following a court ruling.
RockRose took over the GBA platforms in the central North Sea six months ago as part of its $95mn acquisition of Marathon Oil’s UK business. But TAQA teamed up with the pro- ject’s other investors Spirit Energy and JX Nip- pon to oust RockRose, citing the “financial and operational risks” that would arise if it served as operator.
The group took legal action in December and the English and Wales Commercial Court has ruled that their concerns, mostly over the $1.8bn in costs required to decommission the ageing GBA fields, were valid. According to court documents, TAQA, Spirit and JX Nippon were worried about RockRose’s “financial stabil- ity,” especially as they would have to cover the company’s share of decommissioning costs if the business went under.
Presiding Judge Pelling said there was “real concern” about the risks associated with Rock- Rose’s “relatively weak financial strength when compared to TAQA and its ultimate controllers.”
RockRose had previously dismissed TAQA’s arguments, claiming its partner was simply acting in its own “commercial and financial” interests.
Confirming the court verdict, RockRose said it expected the handover of the operatorship to be completed in the second half of this year. The company said it would support “a smooth transition,” noting there would be no disruption
to ongoing operations, including a drilling pro- gramme underway at West Brae.
“For RockRose, this change is financially and strategically neutral and we look forward to seeing the assets continue to deliver for the com- pany and its shareholders,” RockRose chairman Andrew Austin said in a statement.
One of the Brae fields is already being decom- missioned, and another two are anticipated to undergo the same process between 2022 and 2027.
Despite the setback at GBA, RockRose is hun- gry for more North Sea acquisitions. In a trading update in January, Austin said the firm would “look at opportunities to deploy our balance sheet strength to make acquisitions.”
RockRose has assets across the UK North Sea and off the coast of the Netherlands. Reports ear- lier emerged that it was vying to acquire private equity-backed Siccar Point Energy.
“We have a busy schedule in 2020, which will see organic growth in our production, and we continue to look at opportunities to deploy our balance sheet strength to make acquisitions that meet our criteria,” Austin said. “We look for- ward to reporting on further progress as the year unfolds”.
RockRose is targeting a 10% growth in pro- duction in 2020 from its existing business, despite a three-week shutdown at the Forties pipeline scheduled to start in June. It intends to drill a number of infill wells at West Brae, along with infill and development wells at the Royal Dutch Shell-operated Arran field and the Blake field, operated by the Chinese-Spanish joint ven- ture Repsol Sinopec Resources UK. ™
P12
w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m
Week 03 23•January•2020