Page 11 - EurOil Week 10 2023

EurOil INVESTMENT EurOil

Equinor snaps up Suncor’s UK business

NORWAY NORWAY’S Equinor has agreed to purchase Sea Transition Deal.
the UK arm of Suncor Energy for $850mn, CNOOC was reported to be considering the
The deal is worth which will land it a 29.9% stake in one of the sale of its 43.2% stake in Buzzard last year as
$850mn. UK North Sea’s largest oilfields, Buzzard. part of a wider exit from the UK North Sea.
Buzzard, operated by China’s CNOOC, But the company is understood to have put the
produces around 80,000 barrels per day (bpd). divestment on hold in light of falling oil prices,
The field, some 96 km north-east of Aberdeen, as initial offers for the business did not live up
recently had new wells drilled to arrest declin- to its expectations. The sale might be resumed
ing output. if market conditions improve, however.
The transaction also covers a 40% interest in Liquids from Buzzard are transported via
the Rosebank development. Equinor said that the Forties Pipeline system to Hound Point
$250mn of the deal’s price tag depended on Terminal, where crude is lifted and sold on the
whether a final investment decision (FID) was open market, while gas volumes are exported
taken on Rosebank, subject to UK government through the FUKA system.
and partner approvals later this year. Equinor claims that the acquisition would
Rosebank oil and gas field is situated 130 add about 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent
km west of the Shetland Islands, with an per day (boepd) in equity share in 2023. The
estimated 300mn barrels in recoverable oil. transaction is scheduled to close in mid-2023,
Equinor plans to optimise development to subject to regulatory approvals. After its com-
reduce carbon emissions and electrify the pletion, Equinor’s share in Rosebank would
floating production storage and offloading increase to 80%, with Ithaca Energy owning
(FPSO) that will be used, in line with the North the remaining 20%. ™

TotalEnergies expands UAE upstream

portfolio

FRANCE TOTALENERGIES has agreed to purchase the subject to fulfilling customary conditions prec-
upstream assets of Spanish firm CEPSA in the edent, such as documentation formalisation
The French major has UAE, while adding a stake in a Japanese-led and final approvals.
bought the upstream joint venture (JV) that operates other offshore The company’s chairman and CEO Patrick
business of CEPSA in assets. Pouyanné said that the deals would “further
the UAE. The assets to be acquired include a 20% bolster” the company’s presence in Abu Dhabi.
participating interest in the Satah Al Razboot “The acquisition of a 20% working interest in
(SARB), Umm al-Lulu, Bin Nasher and Al the SARB and Umm al-Lulu concession aligns
Bateel (SARB and Umm al-Lulu) offshore con- perfectly with our strategy of focusing on low-
cession, and a 12.88% indirect interest in the cost, low-emission assets,” he added.
Mubarraz concession. In September 2020, OMV announced the
The latter was acquired through the pur- start of production from the full-field devel-
chase of a 20% stake in Cosmo Abu Dhabi opments of Umm al-Lulu and SARB – which
Energy Exploration & Production Co. Ltd were combined in the second of the three new
(CEPAD), a company that owns a 64.4% stake offshore concessions. Combined output com-
that was held by Abu Dhabi Oil Company Ltd menced at 50,000 bpd and a month or so after
(ADOC), the operator of Mubarraz. production began, ADNOC was reported to
The SARB and Umm al-Lulu concession have sold its first two 50,000-barrel cargoes of
encompasses two significant offshore fields. the Umm al-Lulu crude grade – comprising
Alongside OMV (20%), ADNOC holds a 60% production from the two fields to India’s Reli-
interest in the concession, which is operated by ance Industries and South Korea’s GS Caltex.
ADNOC Offshore. According to sources spoken to by Middle
The Mubarraz concession comprises four East Oil & Gas (MEOG), output from Umm
producing offshore fields; Hail, Neewat Al al-Lulu and SARB sat at around 200,000-
Galan, Uhm Al Anbar and Mubarraz. 220,000 bpd last year, with Mubarraz having
TotalEnergies said the transactions are run at around 40,000-50,000 bpd. ™

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