Offshore staff
LONDON — Reuters reported that Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) agreed to sell the Dutch assets of North Sea oil and gas producer Dana Petroleum to private firm Waldorf Production, according to industry sources and a spokesman for Dana Petroleum.
South Korean state-run KNOC has been trying for years to dispose of some or all of its North Sea assets to alleviate its high debt levels, the report stated.
Waldorf is one of a fresh generation of private-equity firms buying up production and squeezing producing fields in the aging North Sea basin from oil majors and other bigger firms.
Dana, bought by KNOC in 2010 for about $2.9 billion including debt, has fields in the Northern and Southern British North Sea, including a 50% stake in the 45,000 boe/d Tolmount gas field.
Dana, which also has assets in the Netherlands and Egypt, had an output of about 47,000 boe/d and revenues of about 485 million pounds (US$547 million) in 2020, according to its website.
The sources put the price tag for the deal at below $1 billion.
In a separate deal, Waldorf also agreed to buy Dutch gas storage and production assets from Abu Dhabi’s Taqa, the latter said in a statement on Thursday.
KNOC declined to comment. Waldorf did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the Reuters report.
Recent projects
Last month, Tailwind Energy delivered first hydrocarbons from the Evelyn tieback project in the UK central North Sea. Dana Petroleum (E&P) and TechnipFMC managed the subsea execution phase, under which the 2021-drilled EV-01z horizontal development well was tied back to the Triton FPSO via a subsea production line and an umbilical services line. In addition, Dana managed the Triton topsides modifications on Tailwind’s behalf.
In July Waldorf Production entered into a binding sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of Alpha Petroleum Resources Ltd., which is the owner of the North Sea's Cheviot Field. Alpha Petroleum has a 100% interest in the Cheviot Field and an operated share of the Kilmar, Wenlock and Garrow gas fields in the UK southern North Sea.
In early May, W&T Offshore signed a memorandum of understanding with KNOC. The two parties jointly considered and pursued opportunities in upstream oil and gas and other options along the energy value chain in North America.
In March, Waldorf Production agreed to acquire MOL UK’s production interests in the UK North Sea. These include non-operated stakes of 20% in the Greater Catcher Area, 50% in the Scolty and Crathes fields, and 21.83% in the Scott and 1.59% in the Telford licenses, all in the central UK North Sea.
10.06.2022
