OKEA has agreed to acquire a portfolio of producing and near-term producing assets from Wintershall Dea Norge for $117.5m in cash.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Norwegian oil company will acquire a 35.2% operated working interest (WI) in the Brage Unit, a 6.4615% in the Ivar Aasen Unit and a 6% in the Nova field from Wintershall Dea.
In addition to the initial consideration of $117.5m, OKEA will also make additional payments to Wintershall Dea, contingent on oil price and oil production during the period 2022-24.
The additional payment is subject to average oil price exceeds $80/bbl during 2022-24 and the average net oil production volumes exceeds certain pre-defined production levels.
Wintershall Dea will be responsible for 80% of OKEA’s share of total decommissioning costs related to the Brage Unit.
OKEA CEO Svein J Liknes said: “We are very pleased to announce this transaction with Wintershall Dea which represents a significant step towards delivering inorganic growth in line with our revised strategy as set out at the end of last year.
“Through this acquisition, OKEA establishes a new operated position, enhances the scale and diversification of our portfolio and strengthens our position within existing core areas.”
For OKEA, the acquisition is expected to add 5,000 to 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) this year, increasing at least 7,000boepd, and net 2P reserves of 13.2mmboe in 2023-24.
The Brage and Ivar Aasen are already in production, while the Nova field is expected to start production in the third quarter of 2022 as a subsea tie-back to the Gjøa platform.
With the acquisition, OKEA will become the operator of the Brage field and will further increase its net interest in the Ivar Aasen field from 2.777% to 9.2385%.
The transaction is expected to be completed, including transfer of operatorship of the Brage unit, in the fourth quarter of 2022, subject to the Norwegian governmental approval.
