With stakes in North Sea oil & gas fields, Longboat JAPEX adds first producing assets to its portfolio

Longboat JAPEX Norge, a Norwegian joint venture between Longboat Energy and Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX), has brought the acquisition of an interest in an offshore license to an end, enabling it to get its hands on its initial producing assets offshore Norway. 

Longboat Energy inked a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with INPEX Idemitsu in July 2023 to acquire a 9.6% interest in PL 089, containing the Statfjord Satellites fields, equating to a 4.8% unitized interest in the Statfjord Øst field and a 4.32% unitized interest in the Sygna field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), for cash consideration of $12.75 million. The acquisition was expected to be carried out through the firm’s subsidiary, Longboat Energy Norge.

This acquisition has now been completed and the production from the Statfjord Satellites, which averaged net 254 boepd in 2023, is currently at net 370 boepd from Statfjord Øst and Sygna. According to Longboat, drilling operations have finished and the operator, Equinor, is currently in the process of commissioning the remaining new wells in Statfjord Øst, which are expected to be brought on stream during the coming months.

The company anticipates a significant increase in production during the first quarter of 2024. This acquisition has been funded by a combination of the investment by JAPEX into Longboat JAPEX and a drawing of approximately $15 million on the acquisition bridge facility provided by JAPEX to the JV. Longboat highlights that the drawing is greater than originally forecast due to negative working capital movements related to delays in bringing new wells on stream during 2023.

Helge Hammer, Chief Executive of Longboat, commented: “We are pleased to have reached completion of our first production acquisition in Norway. Albeit a relatively small acquisition, it is an important step and the Statfjord Satellites are long-life assets and have just undergone a significant infill drilling and redevelopment project.

“We are now focused on adding further assets to our portfolio to build a full cycle E&P company with material production interests. We would like to thank our new joint venture partner, JAPEX, with whom we have worked in close cooperation to execute this transaction.”

Located seven kilometers to the northeast of the Statfjord field in a maximum water depth of 190 meters, Statfjord Øst produces oil and gas from good quality, Middle Jurassic sandstone in the Brent Group. It began production in 1994 from two subsea production templates and one water injection template tied back to the Statfjord C platform.

A redevelopment plan was approved in 2021 to drill five new production wells into potentially undrained areas of the field while also adding gas-lift to increase production levels. The field is currently anticipated to produce until the late 2030s. The Statfjord Øst partners are Equinor (operator, 43.25%), Petoro (30%), Vår Energi (20.55%), INPEX Idemitsu Norge (4.8%) and Wintershall Dea Norge (1.4%).

Moreover, the Sygna field, which is located just northeast of the Statfjord Nord field at 300 meters of water depth, also produces oil and gas from good quality, Middle Jurassic sandstone in the Brent Group. The field began production in 2000 from three production wells tied back via a subsea template to the Statfjord C platform.

A long-reach water injection well was also drilled from the Statfjord Nord template and the field is anticipated to continue producing until the early 2030s. The Sygna partners are Equinor (operator, 43.425%), Petoro (30%), Vår Energi (20.995%), INPEX Idemitsu Norge (4.32%) and Wintershall Dea Norge (1.26%).

Recently, Longboat JAPEX Norge completed the divestment of partial interests in two exploration licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) to Norway’s Concedo.