UK’s Chrysaor gets nod for Grevling stake buy

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has approved Chrysaor’s acquisition of a stake in the Grevling discovery offshore Norway.

The company has bought a 15 percent stake in the OKEA-operated PL038D license, containing the Grevling discovery. The acquisition of a 15 percent stake in the Grevling find from OKEA was first announced in March 2018.

This is the UK-based oil company’s first acreage on the Norwegian continental shelf.

“[Chrysaor has] ambitions to grow further in Norway and eventually become an operator. Chrysaor has entered the line of many new companies on the Norwegian continental shelf since the mid-2000s,” the ministry said.

The partners in the license are now OKEA (55%), Petoro (30%) and Chrysaor (15%).

As part of the transaction, according to original announcement from March, Chrysaor has an option to further increase its interest in the license to 35%.

Phil Kirk, Chief Executive of Chrysaor, said: “Building our asset position on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is a key part of our strategy to become a market leading North European E&P company. Receiving approval for the transfer of the PL 038D licence is an important first step in delivering on our growth plans.”

Grevling is an oil discovery located in the southern North Sea, discovered in 2009 and appraised in 2010. Resource estimates range at 16 – 37 – 51 mmboe (Low-Base-High scenarios)
OKEA has said that development concepts for Grevling include standalone (jack-up and FPSO) and  tie-back (subsea or wellhead platform) solutions.

The news of the Grevling stake buy in March came just days after Chrysaor announced it would acquire Spirit Energy’s entire interests in the Armada, Maria, and Seymour fields offshore the UK for an undisclosed sum.

In November 2017, Chrysaor completed the acquisition of several UK North Sea fields from Shell, for up to $3.8 billion. The buy of Shell’s interests in Beryl, Bressay, Buzzard, Elgin-Franklin, Erskine, Everest, the Greater Armada cluster, J Block, Lomond, plus a 10% stake in Schiehallion has made Chrysaor one of the largest producers of oil and gas in the UK.

Offshore Energy Today Staff