Exxon has agreed to sell off its oil and gas assets in Norway in a $4 billion deal, Reuters sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, in what will mark an end to its long presence in Norway's upstream sector.
Exxon is selling its minority-held stages in 20 fields, currently operated by Equinor and Shell. Exxon has been in talks with interested buyers including Equinor-as well as Aker BP, DNO, Lundin Petroleum, Var Energi, and Hitech Vision.
In June, an Exxon spokesman told a Norwegian newspaper that the company was weighing the sale of its assets in Norway. Rystad Energy had at the time estimated that Exxon's portfolio of Norwegian upstream assets has a value of US$3.1 billion. As of 1 January 2019, Exxon controlled 530 million barrels of oil equivalent on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the most valuable asset being a stake in the Snorre field, worth nearly US$700 million, according to Rystad.
Exxon announced in August that it was exiting the UK's North Sea, in a move that could raise $2 billion from the sale of interests in some or all of its 40 oil and gas fields that together account for 5% of UK's overall production.
Exxon's divestment in the North Sea in general shows renewed faith in its Permian and Guyana assets-the latter which has high hopes. Exxon's very first production vessel-the Liza Destiny--has just arrived offshore Guyana, where it has announced 13 discoveries together with its partner in Guyana, Hess Corp. It's Liza 1 is expected to start up by Q1 2020, producing 120,000 bpd.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More