Austrian oil and gas firm OMV has signed an agreement to divest its wholly-owned subsidiary OMV (U.K.) to Siccar Point Energy for $1bn.
Siccar Point is a backed by funds managed by Blue Water Energy and Blackstone Energy Partners.
OMV UK has assets in the West of Shetlands region of the UK Continental Shelf including an 11.8% interest in the Schiehallion oil field and a 20% interest in the Rosebank field. It also has 5.6% stake in the producing Jade field.
As part of the deal, Siccar will acquire OMV (U.K.) by paying OMV with $750m in cash and a further $125m upon reaching long-awaited final investment decision on the Chevron-operated $6bn Rosebank field.
Siccar Point CEO Jonathan Roger said: “We identified OMV UK as a strategic fit for Siccar Point given the scale, diversity, and quality of its asset portfolio.
“This acquisition turns Siccar Point into a full-cycle oil & gas company with a substantial and high-quality UK North Sea portfolio. We are very excited about this next stage in the company’s growth.”
The divestment comes as the OMV intends to end its exploration activities in the UK due to higher costs in areas such as the North Sea, reported Reuters.
Scheduled to be completed in Q1 2017, the transaction is subject to conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Blue Water Energy partner Graeme Sword said: “The combination of OMV UK with Mariner provides Siccar Point with interests in several of the UK’s largest oil & gas fields, with decades of future production.
“This deal epitomizes the vision we all had for Siccar Point back in 2014, and we look forward to continuing our support of the company as it builds on this important step.”
Image: The OMV head office in the Hoch Zwei skyscraper in Vienna. Photo: courtesy of DanielZanetti/Wikipedia.