North Sea operator Premier Oil is believed to be mulling potential tie-ups on the back of a new finance deal with lenders.
A report yesterday said it plans to hold talks with Chrysaor, which is paying up to £3billion for Shell’s total stakes in nine fields plus a 10% interest in Schiehallion, west of Shetland.
Premier could offer access to the infrastructure for its flagship Solan oilfield to rivals working close to it, such as Chrysaor and Hurricane Energy, the report added.
Meanwhile, energy giant BP is at the centre of speculation over its 2016 results tomorrow.
According to one report yesterday, UBS expects BP to post net earnings of nearly £3billion.
Others put the likely profits figure much lower but still in the black, compared with replacement cost losses (BP’s preferred measure) of more than £4billion in 2015.
Last week, Anglo-Dutch rival Shell posted its worst full-year earnings in more than a decade.
Shell said its current cost of supply earnings – its measure of underlying profits performance – slumped by 37% to £5.7billion last year, excluding one-off items.
But it also showed signs it is turning a corner following deep spending cuts, divestments and thousands of job losses, with cashflow increasing by 69% in the fourth quarter.
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