Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway — Longboat Energy Norge has agreed to acquire minority interests held by INPEX Idemitsu Norge in two production centers in PL 089 in the Norwegian North Sea for $12.75 million.
These comprise 4.80% in the Statfjord Øst Unit and 4.32% in the Sygna Unit (collectively known as the Statfjord Satellites).
Longboat Norge will shortly become a joint venture between Longboat Energy and Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX), after the latter completes an investment that was announced two months ago.
The transaction will provide Longboat Norge’s first production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In addition, the company has entered a decommissioning security agreement with INPEX Idemitsu and will pay a further deferred, post-tax consideration of $1.75 million over the next 18 months.
This sum will be returned to Longboat Norge following decommissioning of the Statfjord Satellites, currently expected in the late 2030s.
Aside from regulatory, lender and partner approvals, the deal remains subject to the successful carve-out of Statfjord Øst and Sygna from PL 089 and the completion of the JAPEX investment.
Statfjord Øst is 7 km northeast of the Statfjord Field in water depths of up to 190 m. It produces oil and gas from Mid-Jurassic Brent Group sandstone.
Production started in 1994 from two subsea templates and one water injection template tied back to the Statfjord C platform. In 2021, Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy approved a redevelopment plan that involved drilling five new production wells into potentially undrained areas of the field while adding gas lift to increase production levels.
Infill drilling is underway and should continue until the end of 2023, boosting production in 2024. In the period to April 30, 2023, Statfjord Øst was producing ~5,200 boe/d from one well.
Equinor is the operator, in partnership with Petoro, Vår Energi, INPEX and Wintershall Dea Norge.
The Sygna Field is northeast of the Statfjord Nord Field in 300 m water depth, also producing oil and gas from Mid-Jurassic sandstone. Production began in 2000 from three producer wells tied back via a subsea template to Statfjord C, with a long-reach water injector also drilled from the Statfjord Nord template.
Sygna, which should remain operational into the early 2030s, produced ~1,300 boe/d from one well in the period to April 30. Equinor operates with the same partners as in Statfjord Øst.
07.03.2023