EVENTS: DEALS & DEALMAKERS BUSINESS BREAKFAST
http://www.insider.co.uk March 2020 INSIDER 103
interests to its portfolio resulting in
about a 150 per cent increases in its
proven and provable reserves and a
300 per cent increase in its forecast
2019 production.
The deal saw about 500 Chevron
employees transferring across,
about 2,300 of whom work
offshore in the North Sea.
But Itahaca’s ambitions did not
end there, apparently, – it was
also understood to be looking at
ExxonMobile’s North Sea assets.
The Virginia-headquartered
oil major is understood to be
considering a sale of its British
and its German holdings, planning
to join the list of those shedding
their assets.
Petrogas is another company
looking to add to its portfolio
after it struck a $500m deal in the
summer for a range of assets in the
North Sea from Total, the French
major.
Another player that is believed
to be seeking to acquire is Sir Jim
Ratcliffe’s Ineos.
Ineos has added to its assets
in recent years including buying
the Forties pipeline system
which carries about 40 per cent
of NorthSea oil and gas to the
mainland.
What picture can we expect
from 2020? It is certainly likely that
more North Sea assets will change
but how many and to whom? ■F
OR some years people have
been predicting a wave of
mergers and acquisitions in
the oil and gas sector.
In fact 2019 was a comparatively
slow year for transactions in
this area but it did host a few
mega deals.
Transactions like the sale by
ConocoPhillips to Chrysaor of its
UK business for $2.675bn – one
of the largest deals in Scotland
in 2019, in which Frank Fowlie
of CMS, one of our speakers at
Insider’s Deals and Dealmakers
Business Breakfast 2020, played a
key part.
The deal which completed in
September 2019 but was backdated
to the start of 2018, included the
transfer of the Greater Britannia
Area and J-Area in the central
North Sea and a 7.5 per cent stake
in the BP-operated Clair Field
West of Shetland.
It also includes stakes in a range
of other non-operated assets in
the East Irish Sea, Shell’s Galleon
field and Premier Oil’s Nicol field
and infrastructure including the
Brent pipeline and Sullom Voe gas
terminal.
Phil Kirk, Chrysaor’s chief
executive, said it confirmed his
company’s position as “one of
Europe’s leading independent
exploration and production
companies”.It represented something of
a ‘changing of the guard’ in the
North Sea as assets from some of
the majors are being transferred to
smaller players, creating a growing
wave of smaller owner-operators.
Following hard on the heels of
the Chrysaor deal was another
‘major to minor key change’ with
Chevron agreeing to sell its North
Sea portfolio to Israeli-owned
Ithaca Energy for $2bn.
The deal meant Ithaca adding
a further 10 producing fieldsNumbers game for oil and
gas: few deals, mega values
It represented something of a
‘changing of the guard’ in the
North Sea as assets from some
of the majors are being transferred
to smaller players
Above: North
Sea assets were
the focus of
mega deals