Offshore staff
LONDON – Chevron is reportedly putting up its UK central North Sea field assets up for sale.
According to Wood Mackenzie, this would continue the trend of majors divesting their non-core UK assets.
“These projects are having to compete for capital on a global scale and simply won’t make sense for such big companies but could be core for a more UK-focused player,” said Kevin Swann, research analyst, North Sea upstream.
“It’s interesting to note that it looks like Chevron is planning to keep its interest in large west of Shetland assets, Clair and Rosebank, as that too is following a trend for the majors in becoming more focused onwest of Shetland.”
This region appeals because it is relatively under-explored compared to the rest of the UK, he added, with only 160 wells to date.
It also offers materiality and longevity, with various large fields already producing, and new infrastructure coming into place that could service further discoveries.
Swann estimated total reserves from Chevron’s central North Sea fields (led byBritannia and associated satellites and Alba) at around 180 MMboe, with forecast production this year of around 65,000 boe/d.
Swann said: “Potential buyers would depend on the price but if one company is looking to buy the whole package, it would need to be one with deep pockets.
“The bigger private equity players could be interested, as could some North Sea independents and international players. However, dividing the assets up into smaller packages would widen the net of potential buyers.”
07/05/2018
