Ineos to sell Norwegian oil & gas business for $615 million

Ineos Energy has made an agreement to sell its oil and gas business in Norway to PGNiG Upstream Norway for a consideration of $615 million.

PGNiG Upstream Norway is a Norwegian unit of Poland’s oil and gas player PGNiG.

Ineos said on Thursday that the deal includes all of its oil & gas interests in production, licenses, fields, facilities and pipelines on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Ineos E&P Norge produces around 33,000 BOE per day from the Norwegian Sea. A 93 per cent gas ratio, from three non-operated fields, Ormen Lange (14 per cent), Alve (15 per cent), and Marulk (30 per cent).

The business also holds 22 offshore licenses, of which 6 are operated, and has equity in the Nyhamna Terminal (8 per cent).

The deal announced on Thursday continues to rebalance Ineos’ portfolio in terms of oil and gas and moves the company towards a more operated position, Ineos explained.

The sale, which has an effective date of 1 January 2021, is subject to approval by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Norwegian Ministry of Finance. It is expected to complete later this year.

All 52 employees of Ineos E&P Norge will transfer to PGNiG Upstream Norway following completion of the deal.

The PGNiG Group is the largest Polish oil and gas company employing 25,000 people worldwide. PGNiG Upstream Norway is an integrated exploration and production company established in Norway in 2007 and plays an important role in the supply of gas to Poland.

Brian Gilvary, Executive Chairman of Ineos Energy said, “This represents another positive step in the Ineos Energy journey. The deal allows us to monetise a non-operated, predominantly gas portfolio at an attractive price compared to our hold value.

“This will further balance our portfolio of oil and gas and open up new opportunities to reinvest further into the energy transition. These assets are a very strong strategic fit for PGNiG and significantly extends their position in Norway”.

Today’s deal quickly follows the announcement of the acquisition of Hess’ business in Denmark, which consists of operated assets.

As explained by Ineos, these deals begin reshaping the company as it progresses a strategy to position the businesses strongly in the coming energy transition.

When it comes to the three fields included in the PGNiG deal, they are all located in the Norwegian Sea. Two of those, Alve and Marulk, have been developed as subsea tie-backs to the Equinor-operated Norne FPSO.

Earlier this month, Vår Energi, as the operator of the Marulk field, received consent from the Norwegian offshore safety authority to use the subsea facilities on the field beyond their original operating life.

The Arve field is operated by Equinor and Ormen Lange by Shell.