UK blocks Russian Oligarchs' Deal to buy North Sea fields

Posted by Joseph R. Fonseca March 1, 2015

The British government blocked on Saturday a deal by Russian billionaires, Mikhail Fridman and German Khan, to buy 12 oil and gas fields in the North Sea as part of their acquisition of Germany's oil firm DEA from RWE , citing possible sanctions against Russia.

"If the proposed acquisition were to proceed in its current form, he (Energy Secretary Ed Davey) would be minded to require the companies to arrange for a further sale to a suitable third party," the Department of Energy said in a statement.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, editing by Louise Heavnes)