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Norway’s Equinor doubles stake in major untapped oil field in the North Sea with $850 million acquisition of Suncor’s UK arm
- Equinor will own 80% of the Rosebank field and 30% of the Buzzard field
- It also hires Suncor’s UK-based employees who work on these projects
- Equinor will decide whether to invest £4.5bn in Rosebank development ‘by 2023’
Norway’s Equinor has doubled its stake in a major North Sea project with the acquisition of Suncor Energy’s UK arm for $850m (£708m).
The deal sees Equinor increase its stake in the Rosebank oil and gas field — one of the region’s largest untapped reserves — by 40 percent, bringing its total stake to 80 percent. The remaining 20 percent is owned by Ithaca Energy.
The acquisition of Suncor UK also includes a 29.9 percent stake in the Buzzard oilfield and will see the Norwegian company hire Suncor’s UK-based employees working on these projects.
Drilling for oil: Rosebank may still hold more than 300 million barrels of recoverable oil
The vast Rosebank Field – named after a Scotch malt whiskey – is located about 80 miles northwest of the Shetland Islands. Drilling has been taking place in the area since 2004.
It could still hold more than 300 million barrels of recoverable oil, according to Equinor, which is in talks with the UK government about accelerating the potential £4.5 billion investment in the oil field.
The company said it would make a decision on this investment sometime this year.subject to UK government and partners’ approval.
About $250 million of the total compensation “is subject to a final investment decision for Rosebank,” it added.
The deal will add approximately 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Equinor’s own production by 2023.
The company has been attacked by climate activists in recent weeks over its high profits and plans to develop the Rosebank project.
The UK government has also been criticized for its efforts to convince Equinor to commit to the project by critics who want the UK to move away from oil and gas.
Equinor has been a reliable, broad energy partner to the UK for almost 40 years, developing domestic energy resources, generating low-carbon electricity and supplying the equivalent of 29 per cent of the UK’s total natural gas demand by 2022. said today.
“Equinor aims to further support the UK economy by investing billions in vital energy infrastructure, including offshore wind, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen, power and oil and gas.”