Canadian operator Talisman Energy said yesterday it was to boost spending in the UK North Sea by 30-35% after agreeing to form a joint venture with Chinese firm Sinopec.
Talisman said its UK operation would transform into a growth business after a number of years in maintenance mode as a result of the tie-up.
Sinopec is paying £956million for a 49% stake in Talisman’s UK North Sea business, creating a new joint-venture company. Talisman strategic sourcing manager Russell Dandie said the Canadian firm had planned to spend about £1.8billion over the next three to five years.
But the deal with Sinopec, which is due to be finalised by the end of the year, will increase the figure to about £3.1billion, he added. Six to eight months ago the ethos was just “keeping things going”, he said. “We have now got a growth agenda,” Mr Dandie told delegates at Oil and Gas UK’s Pilot Share Fair in Aberdeen.
The cash will be spent on drilling more wells and work on subsea developments as well as maintaining 11 offshore platforms.
Mr Dandie said the firm was also working hard to increase its core staff. He added about 500 offshore contractors had recently become directly employed.