CapeOmega buys stake in Norwegian offshore gas transmission system

CapeOmega, a HitecVision-owned oil and gas company, has decided to buy Njord Gas Infrastructure Holding AS, a Norwegian company whose purpose is to own and operate its participating interest of 8.036% in Gassled. 

Gassled is a joint venture between infrastructure and petroleum companies on the Norwegian continental shelf that serves as the formal owner of the Norwegian gas transmission infrastructure. It is the world’s largest offshore gas transmission system that runs from fields on the Norwegian continental shelf to continental Europe and the United Kingdom.

According to its Oslo Stock Exchange filing on Monday, Njord Gas Infrastructure AS has been notified that the owners of the shares in Njord Gas Infrastructure Holding AS (the owner of 100% of the shares in the company), UBS International Infrastructure Fund Holding Coöperatie UA and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, have entered into a sale and purchase agreement for the sale of 100% of the shares in Njord Gas Infrastructure Holding AS to CapeOmega.

The closing of the agreement is subject to approval by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Ministry of Finance, and the Norwegian Competition Authority; conversion of the shareholders loans in the company to equity; and the execution of an agreement between CapeOmega and Nordic Trustee under which CapeOmega assumes the sellers’ rights and obligations under a share pledge and receivables agreement over the share capital of and receivables from Njord Gas Infrastructure Holding AS and receivables from the company.

Gassled has total gas export capacity into continental Europe and the United Kingdom of 369 million cubic meters per day and, in 2013, delivered 102,5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, about 20% of overall European demand.

The Norwegian government-owned Gassco operates the Gassled system as an independent transmission system operator.

CapeOmega also recently announced it would buy Shell’s 9.02% stake in the Polarled gas pipeline and 3% of the 15.03% stake in the gas plant Nyhamna.

Polarled is a new gas pipeline from Statoil’s Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea to the Shell-operated Nyhamna gas processing facility in Møre Og Romsdal county. The pipeline is a new transport solution for the Norwegian Sea gas field and a common infrastructure for handling increased production volumes.

Offshore Energy Today Staff