Private equity firms set to snap up Total’s North Sea oil and gas fields this week in £1bn deal

French energy giant Total is on the cusp of selling its stakes in a series of North Sea oil and gas fields to two private equity firms.

The oil major is expected to announce a £1bn deal with Albion Energy and First Alpha Energy Capital later this week, the Telegraph reported, citing sources.

It will include a one-third stake in the Laggan-Tormore gas field where Total partners with Dong E&P and SSE.

The private equity players are also expected to gain stakes in several smaller fields which Total bought as part of a $4.95bn (£3.8bn) deal with AP Moller-Maersk in 2017.

This will be First Alpha’s first deal since it was founded in 2016 by former Appian Capital Advisory partner Verne Grinstead.

Premier Oil reportedly pulled out of the process last year.

Production at Laggan-Tormore began in 2016, 30 years after the first discovery at the Laggan site. The field produces around eight per cent of the UK’s gas needs, supplying enough gas for two million households.

Last week, a Total-backed exploration project made the biggest oil discovery in the North Sea for over a decade east of Aberdeen.