Norwegian oil and gas company DNO has finalised a new asset exchange agreement to enhance its North Sea portfolio. This recent action will allow it to trade assets with Orlen Upstream Norway, a branch of Poland’s Orlen. The all-cash deals are subject to typical governmental approvals.
Following its asset swap agreement with Aker BP, DNO has taken another step in divestment by planning to sell its 7.604% ownership in the Ekofisk Previously Produced Fields (PPF) project in licenses PL018B and PL018F located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) to Orlen Upstream Norway, in return for acquiring the latter’s 20% stake in license PL1135, which includes the Cassio prospect, along with a 0.8272% stake in the Verdande field.
Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO’s Executive Chairman, commented: “As we continue to highgrade our North Sea portfolio, our focus is on increasing near-term cash flow with less spend and more barrels more quickly.
“Ekofisk PPF covers redevelopment of older, shut-in fields with expected production start in 2029 and while the project fits other companies’ portfolios, we have chosen to deploy our share of the significant capital expenditure necessary in ways that play to our strengths, namely exploration and rapid-fire development of our existing discoveries.”
DNO will maintain its 7.604% interest in PL018, which encompasses the producing Ekofisk, Eldfisk, and Embla fields, along with a portion of the Tor unit. The acquisition of further stakes in Verdande increases the company’s total interest in the Verdande unit, which comprises five licenses, to 14.8251%, including 3.5% from the recently announced asset swap with Aker BP.
Verdande, located in the Norne region, is currently undergoing advanced development and is set to commence production later this year. Conversely, Cassio is positioned directly north of DNO-operated PL1086 (50% interest), which features the Othello discovery, where a dry well was recently drilled.
