Cairn Buys Stake in Premier Oil’s Norwegian Blocks

Premier Oil has executed a sale and purchase agreement to sell its 20 per cent equity interest in PL378 and PL378B to Capricorn Norge, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cairn Energy plc, for an upfront cash consideration of $16 million.

PL378 and PL378B are located in the Norwegian North Sea and contain the Grosbeak discovery and potentially an extension to the Skarfjell discovery located in PL418 to the North.

This transaction has an effective date of 1 January 2013 and is subject to government approval.

Simon Lockett, Premier Oil Chief Executive, commented:
“We are pleased to have agreed this sale as part of an ongoing programme of non-core asset disposals. We continue to concentrate our efforts on projects where Premier is best positioned to add value.”

As a result of this transaction, the partners in PL378 and PL378B are Wintershall Norge (operator, 45 per cent), Talisman Energy Norge (35 per cent) and Capricorn Norge (20 per cent).