Wintershall confirmed it will sell a group of its Norwegian assets to Tellus Petroleum for $602million.
The deal will see Tellus takeover four of Wintershall’s non-operated fields in the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including Knarr (20%), Veslefrikk (4.5%), Ivar Aasen (6.4615%) and Yme (10%).
Tellus will also pick up the equity stakes in seven exploration licenses in the vicinity of the Knarr, Maria and Ivar Aasen fields and in the Barents Sea, as well as ownership interests in the Utsira High Gas Pipeline (3.8769%), the Edvard Grieg Oil Pipeline (2.5846%) and the Knarr Gas Pipeline (20%).
The agreement is part of Wintershall’s bid to optimise its portfolio.
The strategy is a two-pronged approach. The company is also reducing its share in the Maria Development from 50% to 35%.
Martin Bachmann, who looks after the firm’s Europe exploration and production, said: “With this transaction we are selling shares in non-operated fields at a competitive price and reducing our investment obligations.”
The move will not affect the firm’s production targets, according to Bachmann. Wintershall’s aims to hit its 190 million barrels of oil equivalent target by 2018.