Oil giant BP has increased its stake in the Clair oil field, West of Shetland while at the same time has dumped its entire holding in the greater Kuparuk Area in Alaska, USA.
BP has acquired the 16.5% stake in the Clair field owned by Conoco Phillips – as a result of which BP will now hold a 45.1% stake in Clair. Conoco will own a remaining 7.5% holding in the North Sea field.
Separately BP has entered into agreements to sell to ConocoPhillips BP’s entire 39.2% interest in the Greater Kuparuk Area on the North Slope of Alaska as well as BP’s holding in the Kuparuk Transportation Company.
Financial details of the transactions were disclosed but, the transactions together are expected to be cash neutral for BP and ConocoPhillips, according to sources close to the deal.
The giant Clair field has a complex fractured reservoir estimated to have more than 7 billion barrels of hydrocarbons originally in place.
The field is operated by BP which currently holds a 28.6% interest. Production from Clair’s first phase of development began in 2005 and the field produced an average of 21,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed) in 2017.
A major second development phase, Clair Ridge, is expected to start production later this year with production capacity of 120,000 boed. Appraisal has also identified potential for future stages of development of Clair.
BP Upstream chief executive Bernard Looney said: ‘This is a further step in focusing our portfolio around core assets and developments which have the potential for significant growth.
‘Clair is a key advantaged oilfield for our North Sea business, a giant resource whose second phase is about to begin production and which holds great potential for future developments.
“In Alaska, this transaction will increase our focus on managing our deep resource base at the massive Prudhoe Bay oilfield and help enable a more competitive and sustainable business for BP.”
Meanwhile, US oil giant Chevron has put seven North Sea oil platforms up for sale.
More than 600 staff and 200 contracts are employed on its Alba, Alder, Britannia, Captain, Elgin-Franklin, Erskine and Jade platforms.
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5 Jul 2018
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