North Sea trading in oil an gas fields is healthy and strong, according to a deal adviser.
Former Shell acquisitions and divestment co-ordinator Chris Southworth delivered a talk in Aberdeen on why oil firms traded their fields and assets and how and why each deal could be structured differently.
He said: “People do deals for a variety of reasons – perhaps they are not happy with the balance of their portfolio if it hasn’t enough gas, or a lot of mature assets and they want some more early life assets.
“It might be they want more production or exploration. They might be driven by cash constraints and want to bring in someone else.
“This could also be to de-risk exploration. Deals are also based around different companies perception of assets – strategically they might want to do different things so an asset could be of more value to them. It could also be about a tax position.”
Mr Southworth, who trained as a geologist and now runs consultancy Deal Frame Advisors, said: “The North Sea is very active. You are seeing small companies still developing niches and growth strategies.
“You are seeing some larger companies looking at the North Sea maybe as a mature income stream, but that there is still value and growth out there. National oil companies are also coming in.
“There is a healthy number of companies still seeing material value in exploration and development in the North Sea, which leads to a healthy trading environment.”
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