Norway’s state oil company Statoil announced on Tuesday that it was boosting its stake in Lundin Petroleum to 20.1 percent through a series of ownership swaps in oil fields and a cash payment. At the same time, Statoil is selling off its Marcellus shale gas stake in West Virginia in the US.
Statoil said it had agreed to divest its entire 15 percent stake in the Edvard Grieg oil field along with its 9 percent interest in the Edvard Grieg Oil pipeline and a 6 percent stake in the Utsira High Gas pipeline, in order to own around 68.4 million shares of Lundin Petroleum. Lundin is issuing 27.58 million new shares and Statoil will also pay USD 68 million in cash in the deal that Statoil said was initiated by Lundin.
The two companies will continue to operate independently and as separate entities in all licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Statoil called its expanded stake in Lundin an “important long-term industrial investment,” adding that it also boosts Statoil’s indirect share in the potentially lucrative Johan Sverdrup oil field.
Statoil reported on Monday, meanwhile, that it was selling its operated properties in the Marcellus shale formation in West Virginia to EQT Corp, for USD 407 million in cash. Statoil said the two deals were not related. “The Marcellus area being sold is outside our core area of operations, while the transaction with Lundin strengthens our position in core areas off Norway,” Statoil spokesman Bård Glad Pedersen told business news website dn.no.
newsinenglish.no staff
