Total reaches £585m deal to sell North Sea oil and gas assets

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French oil major Total plans to rid itself of £585m of its North Sea assets to North Sea Midstream Partners.
 
The company is selling all of its interests in the Fuka and Sirge gas pipelines and the St. Fergus gas terminal. The Fuka pipeline, in which Total has a 100 per cent operated interest, delivers gas from around 20 fields in the North Sea to the St. Fergus terminal.
 
Total holds a 67 per cent operated interest in the new Sirge pipeline, which will connect the Shetland Gas Plant to the Fuka pipeline.
 
“The sale of these midstream transportation assets is another example of Total’s strategy of active portfolio management and the strong potential to unlock value from a range of assets,” said Total finance chief Patrick de La Chevardiere.
 
“Transferring ownership to an entity specialising in midstream UK assets creates value for us and ensures a long and bright future for the facilities.”
 

NORTH SEA IN 2015

  • Danish oil firm Maersk revealed on Wednesday that it had sought regulatory approval to shut its Janice installation, which operates across three North Sea oil fields, putting up to 200 UK jobs at risk.
  • At the beginning of August, Shell and Esso agreed the sale of stakes in the Anasuria Cluster of North Sea fields to Malaysia’s Ping Petroleum and Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad, for a total of $105m (£68m).
  • Sources said at the end of last month that Austrian oil and gas firm OMV had put a 30 per cent stake in the British North Sea-based Rosebank project up for sale. According to the sources, the sale of such an asset could make $500m for OMV.
  • Total sold a 20 per cent stake in the Laggan-Tormore project to SSE for £565m. The transaction was announced on 29 July.
  • In June, banking sources said German utility E.On was putting its North Sea assets on the block.
  • When Shell revealed in February that it would sell the Anasuria cluster, which was offloaded to a pair of Malaysian companies, it also put the Nelson and Sean projects up for grabs.
  • On a more positive note, BP announced earlier this month that it is to invest around £670m to extend the life of its North Sea assets. The global oil major had previously said it was considering all options, which many took to mean it was looking at a sale of its North Sea projects.