Neptune takes over operatorship of Fenja field development

Independent oil and gas exploration and production company Neptune Energy has completed the integration with the former VNG Norge business and taken over the operatorship of the Fenja field development offshore Norway.

German natural gas company VNG AG signed an agreement for the sale of its Norwegian unit, VNG Norge, to Neptune Energy in late June 2018. The agreement was subject to approval by the supervisory board of VNG, as well as customary regulatory approvals.

Neptune closed the purchase of VNG Norge on September 28, 2018, and got hold of three producing fields, two development projects, and 42 licenses.

Announcing the completion of integration on Monday, December 10 Neptune said that the integrated business, ‘Neptune Energy Norge’, will be among the top five independent producers on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and will become the operator of the Fenja field development project in the Norwegian Sea.

The entire business of former VNG Norge – including participating interests in production licenses, operatorships and employees – have now been merged into Neptune Energy Norge.

Neptune’s first operated project in Norway

Fenja (PL 586), an oil and gas field under development in the Norwegian Sea, is Neptune’s first operated development project in Norway. It lies 120 km north of Kristiansund, with estimated recoverable resources in excess of 100 million barrels oil equivalent (Pil reservoir). The field is a subsea development with tie-back to Njord A platform. First oil is targeted for 2021.

Anne Botne, Country Director for Neptune Energy, said: “Fenja is our first development project in Norway. It will feature innovative solutions enabling production through long distance tiebacks to existing infrastructure, thus capturing value and reducing emissions in line with our strategy.”

Botne added: “By leveraging Neptune Energy’s operational experience and existing contracts, we aim to realize additional opportunities and synergies from Fenja to our two other operated development projects in Norway, Cara and P1 in the North Sea.”

The organization will be led by Managing Director Odin Estensen as of January 2, 2019.

In related news, Neptune last week moved onto the next stage of its Cara project located in the North Sea off Norway following the submission of the Decision to Continue (BoV) report to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in Norway. Neptune plans to make a final investment decision for the Cara project early in 2019.