Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is to almost double its stake in the Norwegian Stratfjord field in a deal that will boost its expansion efforts in the North Sea.
The acquisition, worth £144 million, will increase Centrica’s oil and gas reserves by 29 million barrels of oil equivalent. It will provide the UK-based company with an additional 172 billion cubic feet equivalent of gas and oil reserves, and an incremental 70 million cubic feet per day of natural gas and oil production in 2010.
Centrica’s stake in the field will rise from 9.7 per cent to 19.1 per cent. The company is buying the interest from Norske Shell and Enterprise Oil Norge.
The Statfjord field is operated by Statoil, with licence partners Centrica, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
Mark Hanafin, managing director of Centrica Energy, said: "This is an attractive transaction that builds on our existing knowledge of the Statfjord field and represents a further step in our strategy to grow and deliver value from our upstream business.
“It also increases our level of gas reserves to supply British Gas customers and underlines our continued commitment to invest in North Sea production."
The North Sea is central to Centrica’s strategy of ensuring that at least half of the energy it sells comes from its own production, in order to reduce exposure to volatile spot gas prices.
The company is planning to spend about £100 million over the next three years to maximise production from the Stratfjordfield, which is in Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
The agreement is subject to approvals from the Norwegian government.
