EnQuest PLC has agreed to acquire an initial 25% interest in the Magnus oil field from BP for $85m (£68m).
The deal also includes a 3% share of their Shetland facility.
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The BP staff linked with Magnus and Sullom Voe will also transfer to EnQuest.
Magnus is located 160km (100 miles) north east of the Shetland Islands and is the UK’s most northerly field.
EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu said “This transaction capitalises on EnQuest’s strengths in realising value from the management of maturing oil fields, as underlined by BP’s confidence in proposing a change of operatorship to EnQuest. Magnus is a good quality reservoir; it has large volumes in place, with potential for infill drilling and for the revitalisation of wells, and scope for field life extension. It is a producing asset that would materially increase EnQuest’s reserve base. We are a natural strategic partner to BP for maturing assets and this innovative structure represents a natural evolution of EnQuest’s business.”
Mark Thomas, BP North Sea Regional President said “With their integrated skills, operational scale, cost structures and high levels of operating efficiency we have seen what EnQuest can do on the Thistle, Deveron and Don fields that were previously operated by BP. We believe this is a good example of having the ‘right assets’ in the ‘right hands’, offering new opportunities for the assets and benefitting the UKCS, in the spirit of Maximising Economic Recovery (‘MER UK’).”
Oil & Gas UK Chief Executive Deirdre Michie said “This is an innovative deal which will open a new chapter in the life of Sullom Voe and the productive life of Magnus, an iconic North Sea oil field. It also sends a very positive signal on the opportunities available in the North Sea and is an indication of confidence that, even after producing oil for more than thirty years, this mature field still has more to give.
“The transfer of assets and infrastructure builds on a long-term trend to see ‘the right mature assets’ move into the right hands of established UK mature field operators and sees a fresh commitment to exciting development opportunities by established incumbent companies.”
