A brand new oil company has been launched in Norway, despite the current industry slump. Okea is the second to be born in the country since the summer of 2015 when Origo was rolled out at Offshore Northern Seas.
And it is the fourth over this period if the two UK companies Verus (derived from Bridge Energy) and Siccar Point are included.
All have private equity funding underpinning them.
In the case of Okea, Seacrest Capital Group has got behind the newly created oil & gas development and production company headquartered in Trondheim.
Okea says it will concentrate on building its portfolio on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to create a “material development and production focused” player.
Seacrest has stated that it will initially invest up to $200million in Okea. This is much less than the starter purses for the other three companies noted above.
Okea is led by Erik Haugane, an industry veteran who has more than 30 years’ experience in the sector, and Ola Borten Moe, a former Norway Minister for Petroleum and Energy.
The management team also includes Anton Tronstad and Knut Evensen, who have a long history of working with Erik Haugane at Det norske oljeselskap, which was co-founded by him together with Tronstad.
At Det norske, Tronstad held the position of senior VP drilling, while Evensen was VP business development and interim CFO.
Haugane and his team will work alongside Seacrest to identify large scale investment opportunities.
The company’s mantra resembles a number of newcomers, namely to “unlock the value of conventional oil & gas discoveries by applying innovative partnerships, dynamic strategies and cost-effective development solutions to bring existing discoveries into production in a timely, cost-effective and low-risk manner”.
Henrik Schroder, partner at Seacrest Capital and chairman of Okea, said: “Seacrest is attracted to the Norwegian Continental Shelf, given current market dynamics, combining the availability of development and production projects, the favourable pricing of these assets, the material reduction in the cost structure of the industry and an attractive fiscal environment which protects downside risk.
“We are excited to partner with the Okea team, who combine operational and technical experience with a history of innovation to create value for all stakeholders. Erik has assembled a world-class team representing the breadth of expertise and experience required to fulfil Okea’s objectives.
“We look forward to working with the team to identify and develop investment opportunities and to build out an attractive material portfolio of developed production assets.”
Haugane said he hoped the team would establish a major new development and production company.
“There are numerous discovered fields in Norway that have huge potential value but are not producing today.
“The Okea team has expertise in successfully delivering oil & gas projects through rigorous planning, the creation of powerful relationships with all project stakeholders, using innovative and cost-effective technological advances and development strategies.
“Okea will use this expertise to unlock the maximum commercial potential in projects offshore Norway.”
Since 2010, Seacrest has invested in a number of oil & gas companies in the UK, Norway, West Africa, Ireland, Southeast Asia and South America. The portfolio includes another Norwegian player, Fortis Petroleum and UK/Norway junior, Azinor.
Its investors comprise a range of blue-chip institutions including endowment funds, foundations, pension plans, fund of funds, international corporations and family offices.
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