Noreco exits Huntington, wins court case in Denmark

Norwegian oil company Noreco will transfer its ownership in the Huntington oil field in the North Sea to Premier Oil.

The company said Monday its subsidiary Noreco Oil UK entered into an agreement to transfer its 20% participating interest in the Huntington license with all rights and obligations to Premier Oil E&P UK Limited.

“The transaction will have an accounting effect of a net gain of NOK 225 million to be reflected in the full year accounts” Noreco said, without elaborating further.

This marks Noreco’s formal exit from Huntington, as the company was in January issued a formal notice by the license partners, E.ON and Premier Oil , that they will exercise their rights to acquire Noreco’s participating interest in the Huntington license for no consideration over Noreco breaching of Joint Operating Agreement.

Denmark court case

Also, Noreco on Friday said that a favorable ruling on the Siri field Insurance claims has been received from the Maritime and Commercial High Court in Copenhagen. The claim was related to damage on the Siri platform in the Danish North Sea in 2009.

The total damages ruled in favor of the claimants – Noreco and its partners; Awilhelmsen Special Opportunities AS and QVT Financial LP – amount to approximately USD 470 million, including interest.

Of the total amount, Noreco is entitled to approximately $270 million.

“Noreco has various tax positions that will offset a substantial part of the resulting tax liability. The resulting net amount (after tax) is therefore not yet ascertained,” the company said.

To remind, as part of the agreement with creditors, Noreco has been working to exit the oil and gas business and monetize its assets.

During 2016, Noreco completed the sale of the Norwegian petroleum activities, closed the Stavanger and Danish offices and moved the company headquarters and business address formally to Oslo. At the end of the third quarter the company had four employees.

Offshore Energy Today Staff