Royal Dutch Shell sold share in oil and gas assets in the British North Sea
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell agreed to sell a package of oil and gas assets in the British North Sea to company Chrysaor for nearly 3.8 billion USD. The amount of the transaction includes an initial cash payment of 3 billion USD and payments of up to 600 million USD in the period from 2018 to 2021, taking into account fluctuations in commodity prices, as well as potential additional payments of 180 million USD, depending on future discoveries in these fields. The assets include the share of Shell in the offshore blocks Buzzard, Beryl, Bressay, Elgin-Franklin, J-Block, Greater Armada, Everest, Lomond and Erskine, as well as 10% share in field Schiehallion. In 2016 the total production of hydrocarbons in these areas amounted to about 115,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. In total, Shell produced from the North Sea about 211,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Shell retains a fixed liability in the amount of 1 billion USD in connection with any costs for withdrawal of the assets of the operation. Deal with Chrysoar, is expected to be completed during the second half of 2017, subject to approval by regulators and partners.
Yesterday, Royal Dutch Shell also announced the sells its stake in Thailand’s Bongkot gas field to Kuwait Petroleum for 900 million USD. Earlier this week, Shell has sold a stake in the petrochemical joint venture in Saudi Arabia to the company Saudi Basic Industries Corp for 820 million USD.
Until the end of 2018 the Anglo-Dutch oil giant plans to sell assets worth 30 billion USD in relation with the acquisition of the British gas company BG Group for 54 billion USD.