Maersk Oil Sells North Sea Stakes

Photo credit: Maersk Oil

By Ron Bousso

LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Maersk Oil, a unit of Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk, has agreed to sell stakes in three North Sea fields to RockRose Energy, the latest new entrant into the ageing basin.

RockRose suspended trading on Wednesday before announcing it has agreed non-binding headline terms and a period of exclusivity from Maersk Oil North Sea UK to acquire its non-operated 7.4 percent interest in the Wytch Farm field, a 5.2 percent interest in the Scott fields and a 2.4 percent interest in the Telford field.

The total production for the three interests is estimated at around 2,000 barrels per day, according to industry sources.

A spokesman for Maersk Oil confirmed the details of the RockRose statement.

RockRose, led by Andrew Austin, former chief executive of UK shale gas company iGas, entered the London Stock Exchange in January. This would be its first deal.

Deal-making in the global oil and gas production sector, and particularly in the North Sea, has sharply declined since a rout in oil prices started in mid-2014.

A growing consensus in the industry that oil prices are likely to rise in the coming years has nevertheless led to a cautious revival.

Last month, private equity-backed Siccar Point made its first North Sea oil deal when acquiring an 8.9 percent stake in the UK North Sea Mariner field from JX Nippon.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.

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