Aker BP to Buy Equinor Gas, Condensate Discovery

Aker BP has agreed to buy Equinor's 77.8 percent stake in Norway's King Lear gas and condensate discovery for $250 million in cash, the two companies said on Monday.

The North Sea discovery has estimated reserves of 77 million barrels of oil equivalents, and by connecting it to existing production facilities at the Ula field, Aker BP expects the acquisition to add more than 100 million barrels in total.

"This (tie-in) will improve the capacity utilization at the Ula facilities and provide significant additional volumes of injection gas to support increased oil recovery," the company said.

State-controlled Equinor said the stake sale was part of a process to streamline its Norwegian portfolio.

"By doing so we unlock capital for investment in projects that offer higher returns for Equinor," said Jez Averty, Equinor's senior vice-president for operations in the southern North Sea.

The remaining 22.2 percent stake in King Lear is held by Total. The transaction is subject to approval by Norwegian authorities.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Jason Neely)