DEA sells its share in Norwegian gas infrastructure to CapeOmega

Oil and gas company Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA) has sold its ownership in the Nyhamna onshore gas processing plant, the Polarled gas pipeline and Gassled, the Norwegian gas transportation network, to CapeOmega.

According to DEA’s statement from last Friday, the transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2018, subject to approvals by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Ministry of Finance.

Hans-Hermann Andreae, managing director of DEA Norge, said: The transaction represents a step forward ‎in DEA’s strategy to divest legacy infrastructure assets in our portfolio and unlock value in support of the growth of our upstream business.”

According to DEA, the sale includes a 4.7910% share in Polarled, 1.0649% in Nyhamna, and 0.0810% in Gassled which includes a 0.03946% stake in the Zeepipe Terminal and a 0.05234% stake in the Dunkerque Terminal.

CapeOmega, a HitecVision-owned oil and gas company, said in a separate statement on Monday that the effective date of the transaction was January 1, 2018.

Earlier this year, CapeOmega bought Njord Gas Infrastructure Holding AS, a Norwegian company whose purpose is to own and operate its participating interest of 8.036% in Gassled.

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

On the other hand, 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.

Completion of the Polarled pipeline and the Nyhamna terminal expansion create transportation capacity for the gas production from DEA’s operated Dvalin field, currently under development. Furthermore, it is opening a new region for supplying Norwegian natural gas to the markets in continental Europe and the United Kingdom.