Noble Energy says it has agreed to sell some non-core assets in America for about £375million, without revealing who the buyer will be.
The Houston-based oil and gas company said the assets to be sold represented production of about 5,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
It also forecast annual production growth of 10% for the next five years, taking its output to 350,000boepd by 2015, adding that its proven reserves by 2015 were expected to be 1.6billion boe.
Noble signalled last September its intention to dispose of all its assets in the North Sea, where it has non-operated oil and gas interests in both the UK and Dutch sectors. Analysts said then a deal could be worth up to £400million.
A spokesman for Scotia Waterous, the oil and gas acquisition and divestment specialist which was appointed to assist in the sale of Noble Energy (Europe) said yesterday there had been interest shown in the North Sea assets but no deal had yet been done.
Meanwhile, oil and gas operator EnCore Oil said yesterday it had made a significant oil find with an exploration well on its Catcher prospect in UK central North Sea block 28/9.
The company said initial analysis indicated the discovery of a minimum 240-foot oil column with calculated net pay of 90ft in excellent quality sands.
Testing will now be carried out followed by possible sidetrack wells to determine any upside in the area.
EnCore has a 15% interest in the well and is operator. Partners on the licence are Premier Oil (35%), Wintershall (20%), Nautical Petroleum (15%) and Agora Oil and Gas (15%).
Oil prices rose yesterday after US government data showed crude and petrol stocks in the world’s largest energy consumer fell by much more than expected last week. July crude settled up $1.75 at $74.61 a barrel in New York. In London, Brent added $1.66 at $75.32.