On 10 July 2019 Total announced that it has signed an agreement to divest a number of non-core UK assets to Petrogas NEO UK Ltd. The acquiring company is the exploration and production segment of the Oman based conglomerate MB Holding. Petrogas has partnered with private equity investor HitecVision for the deal. The overall consideration for the deal amounts to USD 635 million and the deal has an effective date of 1 January 2019. Completion of the deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in December 2019.   A number of the assets involved in the acquisition were acquired by Total through the USD 7.45 billion acquisition of Maersk made in March 2018. Total stated the acquisition is in-line with its portfolio management strategy, aiming to lower its break-even point through optimizing capital allocation and divesting in high technical cost assets. Totalâs primary objective is to maintain the organic break-even before dividend below USD 30/b. Â   Petrogas stated that through the acquisition it is taking on expected average 2019 production of 25,000 boe/d, putting it among the top 20 producers. Through the deal Petrogas will take over 110 employees and contractors through picking up operatorship of assets (Quad 15 and Flyndre) and a fully owned FPSO. Petrogas along with HitecVision plan to become a full-cycle North Sea operator focusing on combining value creation in the North Sea with high environmental, social and Governance standards. The Total acquisition is the first step in the implementation of this strategy and will provide further expansion through organic and in-organic activities which include growing the operatorship position further. Petrogas believes that the assets acquired provide a number of organic growth opportunities including infill drilling and development discoveries close to infrastructure.          Assets   acquired by Petrogas             Field         Interest sold         Operator             Dumbarton         100%         TOTAL             Balloch         100%             Lochranza         100%             Drumtochty         100%             Flyndre         65.94%             Affleck         66.67%             Cawdor         60.60%             Golden Eagle         31.56%         CNOOC             Scott         5.16%             Telford         2.36%
United Kingdom, Golden Eagle