North Sea oil giant Harbour Energy to remain in Vietnam

The North Sea’s largest oil producer has abandoned plans to sell its Vietnamese arm to a local company for £65m.

Harbour Energy announced the deal with Vietnamese group Big Energy last year and expects it to be completed this summer.

But the FTSE 250-listed group has backed down and is seeking a higher price, according to The Mail on Sunday.

Harbour is keen to get out of Vietnam and boss Linda Cook said last year it wants to focus on other countries. It also works in Norway, Indonesia and Mexico.

It is the largest oil and gas producer in the North Sea, but it began pinning its hopes on overseas projects after the previous government imposed a tax on the profits of British energy companies.

The levy was introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil and gas prices soaring, leaving households with higher bills.

The Labour Party announced in its manifesto that it would take an even harder line on North Sea producers by increasing the overall tax burden from 75 to 78 percent and scrapping investment deductions.

Last year, most of Harbour’s profits were lost to taxes.

On the Vietnam deal, Harbour said in a prospectus to investors that on May 13 it had “exercised its right to terminate the original sales agreement”, adding: “Harbour intends to reassess its options with respect to realising the best value from its Vietnam business.”