Spirit Energy has entered into agreements to divest its Norwegian business including the Statfjord UK field. The headline consideration is $1,076 million (approximately £800million), plus a contingent payment linked to commodity prices.
The transactions comprise the following:
Sval Energi will acquire the interests held by Spirit Energy Norway AS, excluding the Statfjord Norway field, and
Equinor will acquire Spirit Energy Norway AS’s interest in the Statfjord Norway field and Spirit Energy’s interest in the Statfjord UK field.
Chris Cox, Chief Executive Officer of Spirit Energy, said: “The sales agreements are in accordance with the strategy of Spirit Energy’s owners to reduce the carbon intensity of its portfolio.
“Over the last 15 years, we have created an attractive cash-generating business in Norway with producing assets, future developments and exciting exploration opportunities. Sval Energi is acquiring a successful and solid business.”
Spirit Energy will continue as a business in the UK and in the Netherlands.
The Spirit Energy Norway workforce will be transferred to Sval Energi AS, as the sale constitutes a transfer of undertaking according to the Norwegian Working Environment Act chapter 16.
Spirit Energy is an oil and gas exploration & production company with two shareholding entities: Centrica (69%), and Stadtwerke München GmbH SWM (31%). The company’s operated and non-operated interests across the UK, Norway, and the Netherlands, with more than 30 producing fields and 128 exploration licences. Production was 44.9 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2020. Spirit Energy is headquartered in Reading, UK.
(Source: Spirit Energy – Image: Statfjord B platform/Harald Pettersen/Equinor)