Aker BP has agreed to acquire Equinor's entire 77.8% operating stake in North Sea production licences PL146 and PL333 for a total consideration of US$ 250 million. The deal announced on 15 October 2018 is subject to regulatory and partner approvals. PL146 (59 sq km) and PL333 (28 sq km) were awarded during 1988 and 2004 respectively and cover part of block 2/4 on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, approximately 10km NW of the producing Ekofisk oil field. The acreage contains the King Lear gas and condensate discovery, thought to have been initially drilled by NFW 2/4-14 (1989, Saga Petroleum, 4,734m MD) which made a technical discovery encountering oil and gas in the high pressure Early Cretaceous Mandal Formation. However, a resultant blow-out incident caused the drilling of a relief well (2/04-15) and the abandonment of operations. The prospect was drilled again by Statoil in 2012, with NFW 2/4-21 (5,395m MD) encountering commercial volumes of gas and condensate in the Late Jurassic Intra-Farsund Formation sandstone. The discovery has been successfully appraised (2/4-21 A) with a reported net recoverable resource of 77 MMboe. Additionally, on PL146, NFW 2/4-23 S (2015, Statoil, 5,548m) made a gas and condensate discovery (Julius) in the Middle to Upper Jurassic Ula and Bryne formations, as well as a minor oil discovery (Romeo) by NFW 2/4-22 S (2015, Statoil, 4,889m). Pending approvals PL146 and PL333 are operated by Equinor Energy AS (77.8%) and Total E&P Norge AS (22.2%).
Aker BP has agreed to acquire Equinor's entire 77.8% operating stake in North Sea production licences PL146 and PL333 for a total consideration of US$ 250 million. 