Offshore staff
VIENNA, Austria – OMV has an agreement to acquire Shell’s Upstream business in New Zealand for $578 million, subject to government approvals.
This comprises majority interests in the producing offshore Pohokura and Maui fields, and associated infrastructure for production, storage, and transportation.
The deal will lift OMV’s shares to 74% of Pohokura and 93.75% in Maui. Average production from the fields in the first two months of this year was around 31,000 boe/d.
OMV has also acquired Shell’s 60.98 % interest in the Great South basin exploration block, which carries a drilling commitment currently estimated at $50 million.
Shell said the transaction was in line with its strategy of divesting $30 billion of assets by end-2018, and to simplify its upstream portfolio.
Employees of Shell Taranaki and Shell New Zealand will transfer to OMV New Zealand on completion of the deal, expected by around 4Q.
Pohokura is an oil and gas field 4 km (2.5 mi) offshore of north Taranaki in 35 m (115 ft) water depth, discovered in 2000 by Fletcher Challenge.
It has been developed with a wellhead platform, with production sent through a subsea pipeline to a remotely controlled, unmanned station onshore, adjacent to the Motunui methanol plant.
Maui isNew Zealand’s largest gas, condensate and oil field, discovered in 1969, 35 km (22 mi) off the coast of Taranaki and southwest of New Plymouth, in 110 m (361 ft) of water. Offshore facilities comprise two platforms.
03/16/2018
