Oil and gas operator Taqa Bratani said yesterday it had increased its stake in a find in waters off Shetland in a multimillion-pound deal.
Taqa Bratani, the UK arm of Abu Dhabi’s state energy company, will have a 52.7% share of the Cladhan discovery once it completes the deal for an additional 12.6% from Canadian explorer Sterling Resources.
In exchange for its increased interest, Taqa will pay most of Sterling’s share of the development costs until first oil, expected early in 2015.
Taqa increased its stake in Cladhan to 40.1% a year ago after agreeing to buy 13.5% from Sterling for an initial £29million.
The firm has since become operator at the field 55 miles north-east of Shetland.
Following the latest deal Sterling will be left with a 13.8% interest in Cladhan, which reportedly could hold more than 300million barrels of oil. The third partner at the development is Wintershall with 33.5%.
Sterling said it had sold the further stake in Cladhan to make sure it could prove it had enough cash to cover its share of the capital costs in the field-development plan, which will be submitted to the Department of Energy and Climate Change next week.
Troubled Sterling also said yesterday it had launched a £147million high-yield bond to replace a £105million loan.
It is the latest in a series of refinancing deals it has resorted to after delays and cost overruns started at its Breagh North Sea project last year.
Sterling has a 30% stake in the gas field, but last week Germany-based operator RWE Dea increased the expected cost for the first 10-well phase of the development by £16million to £648million, of which £194million is net to Sterling.
RWE Dea also said earliest gas would be mid-July, with possible slippage to the final week of August.
Referring to the company bond and the deal with Taqa, Sterling chairman Walt DeBoni said yesterday: “These initiatives will, upon completion, set the company on a sound financial footing, positioning Sterling for a period of potential growth and disciplined investment in its development assets and selected additional opportunities.”