The Norwegian subsidiary of Italian energy firm Eni has taken over Point Resources and formed a company called Var Energi.
Private equity investor HitecVision also has a stake in the new venture.
Eni said Var would be a “leading player” in the Scandinavian country’s upstream sector.
The business will have production of 180,000 barrels of oil per day (boepd) on average from 17 producing fields.
It will have resources in excess of 1.25 billion barrels.
Production is expected to reach 250,000 boepd by 2023.
The company plans to invest more than $ 8 billion over the next five years to develop 10 existing assets.
It will have a total of about 800 employees, including both offshore and onshore staff.
Kristin Kragseth, currently vice president production of Point Resources, will become CEO of the combined entity, while Philip Hemmens will be chairman.
Eni will own 69.6% of Var Energi, while HitecVision will hold 30.4%.
Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi said: “This is a fundamental step ahead in our strategy to reinforce Eni’s presence in OECD countries with further upstream potential, such as Norway.
“The high quality of the human capital as well as of the assets in the portfolio, together with the expansion opportunities still available in Norway, will create a significant upside value to the shareholders of the merged company.
“Eni will bring into Var Energi its globally recognized capacity to innovate and its best technology, which has enabled us to achieve remarkable results in recent years, through great discoveries and the start-up of these discoveries in a record time”
Ole Ertvaag, CEO and founding partner of HitecVision, said: “We are proud to bring together two E&P organizations that each have a history in Norway going back to the very beginning of our oil and gas industry, with license no. 001 from 1967 and participation from the start in Ekofisk, the first oil field in Norway.
“After more than 50 years Norway still has very significant oil and gas resources, and the combination of Eni and Point builds on decades of experience to create an all-new company for the decades ahead.”
Morten Mauritzen, CEO of Point Resources, said: “Point Resources has come a long way in a short time since acquiring ExxonMobil’s operated business in Norway last year.
“Var Energi will be one of the largest independent E&P companies in Norway, with strong growth ambitions for the future.
“A large portfolio of operated and non-operated fields, increased focus on exploration and many development projects means that it will go forward as one of the most exciting companies in the industry.”
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