Aker BP sells stake in Valhall and Hod fields to Pandion

Norway’s Aker BP will sell ten percent stake in the Valhall and Hod fields in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea to Pandion Energy.

Aker BP, which on Friday celebrated one year since its creation, said the value of the transaction would not be disclosed. The company became the sole owner of the Valhall and Hod fields through the October 2017 acquisition of Hess Norge.

Commenting on the deal with Hess, Karl Johnny Hersvik, CEO of Aker BP, said: “After we announced the Hess transaction, we have seen strong interest to partner with Aker BP in the Valhall area. Through this transaction, we get a partner that shares our ambition of developing the upside potential in these fields.”

As for Pandion Energy, the company buying the ten percent stake, it is a private oil and gas company focusing on exploration, appraisal and development opportunities in all parts of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). It was founded in 2016. Pandion energy is backed by Kerogen Capital, an independent private equity fund manager specializing in the international energy sector.

Valhall & Hod

Valhall and Hod The Valhall field centre consists of six separate steel platforms for living quarters, drilling, production, water injection, and a combined process- and hotel platform.

Two unmanned and remotely operated flank platforms (North and South) are located about 6 km north and south of the field centre. The Hod field is developed with an unmanned wellhead platform, located 13 km south of Valhall, and is remotely operated from the Valhall field centre.

According to Aker BP, all wells on the Hod platform are currently shut-in and awaiting plugging and abandonment. The Hod reservoir is now being produced from wells drilled from the Valhall South Flank platform.

Aker BP is planning to submit a Plan for Development and Operation for the Valhall Flank West project late 2017, with estimated first oil in 2020.

In addition, Aker BP is maturing a number of additional projects in the area, including the North and South Flank projects. Early January 2017, Valhall and Hod passed one billion barrels of oil equivalents produced, which is more than three times the volume expected at the opening of the field in 1982. The ambition is to produce a further 500 mmboe.