Harbour Energy, UK to complete Wintershall Dea Asset Deal in September
Harbour Energy, of Britain, said Tuesday that it expected to complete the purchase of Wintershall Dea assets by early September. This is a change from its previous estimate of early in the 4th quarter. Harbour's shares rose 7.2% to 301.10p at the opening of morning trading. The biggest British North Sea oil-and-gas producer has said that it has made significant progress in satisfying the completion conditions, including regulatory approvals from Mexico.
Wintershall Dea Looks to Domestic Production as Russia has 'Destroyed' Trust
Germany's Wintershall Dea, a shareholder of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and longstanding Gazprom partner, on Tuesday said it would look to increase domestic oil and gas output since Russia has lost its status as a reliable energy supplier.If Europe wants to reduce its dependence on imports it has to look at domestic energy supplies, Chief Executive Mario Mehren told journalists after second-quarter results showed adjusted net income up 262%…
Wintershall Dea Earnings Drop
German oil and gas company Wintershall Dea reported a sharp drop in earnings in the first quarter of 2020, prompting it to cut costs and reduce oil and gas exploration.Production amounted to 626,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d) in Jan-March, unchanged from the same 2019 period, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.Due to a weaker price environment for commodities, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization…
Wintershall Dea Seeks European IPO in 2020
Newly created oil and gas group Wintershall DEA plans to hold an initial public offering in the second half of the next year, its chief executive told Reuters, in a deal that could become one of the largest European listings in 2020.Sources said in April that Wintershall DEA had picked the banks to arrange its stock market flotation.Mario Mehren, the CEO of the company, confirmed the plans."We are preparing ourselves for the potential IPO of the company, we want to be IPO-ready by the mid of next year and then if the market's circumstances are
Wintershall, DEA Complete Merger
The merger between oil and gas firms Wintershall Holding GmbH and Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA) has been completed, creating the largest independent exploration and production company in Europe.Wintershall DEA will be headquartered in Hamburg, with activities across Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East. Regulatory approvals have been granted by nine countries including Germany, Norway, the UK and Russia.“We are a European champion and are making an important contribution to Europe’s energy security…
Oil Firms Deepen Cost Cuts as Price Recovery Remains Elusive
Oil companies are deepening cost cuts through efficiency and standardisation to stay profitable while maintaining dividends as a supply glut pushes back a potential recovery in the price of crude, top executives and analysts said. The sector has slashed jobs, projects and investments to cope with a 60 percent downturn in crude prices over the past two years, with consultancy Wood Mackenzie putting the drop in exploration and production spending by the top 56 oil and gas firms at 49 percent, or $230 billion, over the period.
Norway Awards 10 Arctic Licences to 13 Firms
Norway awarded 10 new licenses in its 23rd oil licensing round for new exploration areas, which for the first time is granting access to an offshore border zone with Russia, the oil and energy ministry said on Wednesday. 13 companies will be offered participating interests in a total of 40 blocks, while five companies will be offered operatorships, the oil ministry said. All ten production licences are located in the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in a separate statement.
Oil Firms Vie for Norway's New Exploration Work
Norway has received applications from 26 oil firms seeking drilling permissions in a licensing round set to move the search for hydrocarbons closer to its border with Russia, the country's Oil and Energy Ministry said on Friday. Competition for many of the blocks had been fierce, the ministry said, not least in the previously unexplored eastern part of the Barents Sea where Norway settled a 40-year border dispute with Russia in 2010. Around 55 percent of the oil and gas resources on the Norwegian continental shelf are yet to be produced…
Det norske buys Premier Oil's Norway Stake
Norway's Det norske oljeselskap has agreed to buy Premier Oil's Norwegian business in a $120 million cash deal that prompted gains in both companies' shares. The deal is one of a flurry of transactions made in the Norwegian North Sea in the last month, showing buyers and sellers are finding more common ground on price expectations. Last month, E.ON sold its Norwegian oil and gas business for $1.6 billion to Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's fund LetterOne and Det norske also acquired Svenska Petroleum's Norwegian assets for $75 million.
Ineos Buys North Sea Gas field from Russian Billionaire
Swiss chemicals company Ineos has bought all the UK North Sea gas fields owned by the DEA Group, which is in turn owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's investment fund LetterOne, the companies said on Sunday. In April, Britain's Energy Ministry gave Fridman six months to dispose of oil and gas fields LetterOne bought from German utility RWE, or see their licences revoked as the West tightened sanctions against Moscow over its role in the Ukraine.
Russian Billionaire Nears Deal for E.ON's North Sea Assets
Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne fund has emerged as the front runner for the acquisition of German utility E.ON's Norwegian North Sea assets, three industry and banking sources said on Tuesday. The potential acquisition would signal a renewed push by the Russian oligarch to expand his private equity fund's oil and gas portfolio after being forced to sell his British North Sea assets as a result of U.S. and European sanctions on Moscow.
BP Increases Stake in Egypt Gas Field
BP has increased its share in the $12 billion West Nile Delta gas field in Egypt to above 80 percent after buying a stake from DEA, the energy group owned by Russian billionaire Mikhial Fridman. Germany-based DEA said it had sold roughly half of its stake in the field and now owns 17.25 percent of the concession deal to develop 5 trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 55 million barrels of condensates. Fridman appointed in March former BP boss John Browne to head DEA.
Private Equity Eying UK North Sea Assets
Private equity funds in talks to buy North Sea assets; rebound in oil prices accelerates process. High-profile oil and gas executives are teaming up with private equity funds seeking to invest billions in British North Sea assets and maximize profits by cutting costs, offering the ageing basin a badly needed lifeline. With an estimated $10 billion in their war chests, large funds including Riverstone Energy, Carlyle Group and Blackstone are in talks to buy producing assets or invest in struggling exploration and production (E&P) companies…
UK Pressure Forces Russian's North Sea Asset Sale
Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne fund offers 11 gas fields. Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne fund is set to formally launch the sale of North Sea gas fields it had acquired from RWE, bowing to British threats to revoke the assets' licences unless the Russian tycoon relinquishes ownership. The move signals that the Russian billionaire has decided against challenging the British government's rare intervention that comes amid a standoff between the West and Moscow over Russia's actions in Ukraine.
UK Decides to Revoke DEA Oil Licences Unless Ownership Changes
The British government has decided to revoke North Sea oil field licences owned by DEA, RWE's oil and gas unit bought last month by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne, unless the licences change ownership, the energy ministry said. "The Secretary of State Ed Davey ... proposes to revoke DEA UK's North Sea petroleum licences unless LetterOne arranges for a further change of control of the DEA UK gas fields in the North Sea," the ministry said in a statement.
UK Shale Gas Firm Cuadrilla Appoints New Chairman
British shale gas company Cuadrilla Resources has appointed board member Roy Franklin as chairman with immediate effect, the firm said on Wednesday. Franklin will replace former BP boss John Browne who is now chairman of LetterOne, the investment vehicle owned by Russian billionnaire Mikhail Fridman that bought RWE's DEA oil and gas unit last month. Franklin's career has also included working at BP, where he headed up the exploration unit's acquisition and divestitures group. He has had a seat on the board of Cuadrilla since 2012.
UK Mulls Russian N. Sea deal, Could force Sale
The British government is still considering Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's acquisition of North Sea gas fields, but has made clear it has the power to require him to sell the assets, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Wednesday. Fridman, whose fund LetterOne bought 11 UK gas fields as part of a 5 billion euro ($5.29 billion) takeover of energy firm DEA from Germany's RWE, has threatened to sue the government after it said it could force him to sell UK assets.
Russian Oligarch Responds to UK in North Sea Deal Row
Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne fund said on Wednesday it had provided Britain's energy ministry with a detailed response as part of its attempt to complete a deal to purchase assets in the North Sea. Britain has blocked the deal citing potential new sanctions against Russia and has given the fund seven days to come up with new proposals or face calls to sell the assets to a third party. LetterOne is buying the assets from Germany's RWE. "We... continue to engage with the department (of energy).
RWE Taking No Part DEA Dispute
German utility RWE said on Tuesday it will not get involved in a potential legal dispute between Britain and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne over RWE's oil and gas business. LetterOne wrapped up the 5.1 billion euro ($5.49 billion) purchase of RWE's oil and gas unit DEA last week, but the British government threatened to force the sale of the arm's UK assets unless Fridman can assure they are immune to potential sanctions.
UK Will Force Fridman to sell N.Sea Assets
Britain is ready to force the sale of Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman's recently acquired North Sea energy assets unless it receives unspecified assurances within the next week, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Thursday. Britain on Wednesday wrote to Fridman's investment vehicle saying he had seven days to explain why he should be allowed to retain ownership of North Sea assets just acquired from German utility RWE. "If assurances are not supplied…
