Eni Norge, Point Resources to merge

July 3, 2018
Eni and private equity investor HitecVision have agreed to merge Point Resources with Eni Norge, and will rename the company Vår Energi AS.

Offshore staff

SANDNES, Norway – Eni and private equity investor HitecVision have agreed to merge Point Resources with Eni Norge, and will rename the company Vår Energi AS.

The portfolio of the combined group will have a wide geographical coverage from the Barents Sea to the Norwegian North Sea, with reserves and resources totalling more than 1,250 MMboe.

This year it will produce around 180,000 boe/d from 17 active oil and gas fields, but output should build to 250,000 boe/d by 2023 after developing more than 500 MMboe in 10 existing fields, at a breakeven price of less than $30/bbl.

Over the next five years the combined company plans to invest over NOK65 billion ($8 billion) in bringing these projects onstream, revitalizing older fields and exploring for new resources offshore Norway.

It also plans to extend its portfolio through future exploration bid rounds and M&A transactions.

The new company will have 800 employees offshore and onshore. Kristin F. Kragseth, currently vice president of Production at Point Resources, will become CEO of the combined entity, with Philip D. Hemmens named chairman.

Vår Energi will be owned 69.6% by Eni and 30.4% by HitecVision. Subject to regulatory approvals the merger should be completed by the end of the year.

Point Resources was formed in 2016 from the merger of HitecVision portfolio companies Core Energy, Spike Exploration, and Pure E&P.

In 2017, Point acquiredExxonMobil’s Norway business, including operatorship of the Balder and Ringhorne fields in the North Sea. It currently has interests in 50 Norwegian licenses and operates 11, including license number 001 (PL 001), the first to be awarded on the shelf.

Eni Norge, formed as Norsk Agip in 1965, was active at the Ekofisk field from 1971. In 2000, the company discovered the Goliat field in the Barents Sea in 2000, which started production in 2016. It also operates Marulk in the Norwegian Sea, has ownership interests in 55 licenses and operates 12 of these, seven in the Barents Sea.

07/03/2018