il and gas firm Endeavour International said today a £200million-plus deal to buy a chunk of North Sea production would help it become one of the larger independents in the basin.
It has bought ConocoPhillips’ interest in the Alba, MacCulloch and Nicol fields, boosting its North Sea production of under 2,000 barrels of oil per day by 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
The deal would also add reserves of about 33million barrels of oil equivalent, Endeavour said.
Earlier this month seven-year-old Endeavour said told an energy conference the firm had “substantial multi-year production and cash flow growth expected beginning in 2012” with an aim of “doubling production in each of the next several years”.
The firm is due to see a boost in production from its 20% share in Apache’s Bacchus development, which had been due to come on stream by the end of this year.
Endeavour is also to start drilling on its Greater Rochelle development in spring, due to start producing in the second half, plus expects production from its Columbus development in 2013.
“Together with Bacchus and Greater Rochelle, Endeavour becomes one of the larger independents in the North Sea,” the firm said in a presentation yesterday.
With production from Bacchus and Greater Rochelle, as well as from interests in the three fields it has bought off ConocoPhillips, it said total production would rise to 18,000 to 25,000 boepd, with 81% of that from the North Sea oil and gas.
The deal will see it buy 23.4% in the northern North Sea Alba field, operated from a platform by Chevron with 7,500 boepd; and 18% in the central North Sea Nicol, a subsea tie-back, operated by Premier Oil, with 200 boepd.
It will also buy 40% and take on operatorship of the 3,100 boepd central North Sea MacCulloch field, operated using a floating production vessel.