UK operator Centrica said yesterday it had signed a £142million deal to more than double its stake in a North Sea development.
The Scottish Gas parent said it had agreed to buy ConocoPhillips’s interest in the Statfjord fields, which are spread across the UK and Norwegian sectors of the northern North Sea.
Centrica said the acquisition would provide another secure source of gas for its UK customers and added the acquisition of ConocoPhillips’s 15.17% stake took its interest in the project to 34.3%.
The development includes the main Statfjord field, plus satellites Statfjord Nord, Statfjord Ost and Sygna.
Centrica said the deal gave it additional reserves of 36million barrels of oil equivalent and added it would need to provide £200million of development costs for the former ConocoPhillips stake.
Mark Hanafin, managing director of Centrica Energy, said: “Increasing our stake in Statfjord marks the latest stage in our drive to secure high-quality sources of gas for our customers, adding both earnings and long-term value to Centrica.”
Statfjord is one of the oldest producing fields on the Norwegian continental shelf plus one of the largest and most significant oil discoveries in the North Sea.
Centrica’s latest acquisition comes just months after the firm agreed a £13billion gas deal with Norway and bought £1billion of assets in Norwegian waters.
Last year, the operator said it would import enough gas to meet about 5% of the UK’s annual demand for the next 10 years, while it also bought production facilities from Statoil.
Mr Hanafin said the three agreements “underlined our commitment to invest in North Sea production and secure future energy supplies for the UK”.
Centrica’s upstream oil and gas operations have grown since the group bought Venture Production in 2009.
Staffing levels in Aberdeen have since mushroomed from about 140 to about 350, including some 60 taken on last year, making it the Windsor-based firm’s largest office.