Shell plc subsidiaries Shell Offshore Inc. and Shell Pipeline Co. (SPLC) agreed to acquire interests in Ursa and Europa fields and Ursa Oil Pipeline Co. LLC from ConocoPhillips Co. (COP) for $735 million, Shell and ConocoPhillips said in separate releases Feb. 21.
The deal will increase Shell’s stake in its operated Ursa tension-leg platform (TLP) in the Gulf of Mexico, along with the pipeline, and associated fields to a maximum of 61.35% from 45.3884% by acquiring ConocoPhillips’s 15.96% share.
Other interest holders in the Ursa TLP are BP Exploration & Production Inc. (22.6916%) and ECP GOM III LLC (15.96%). In 2024, ExxonMobil Corp. sold its 15.9% interest in the deeepwater Ursa and Princess oil assets to Esperanza Capital Partners and Andros Capital Partners LLC (OGJ Online, Feb. 21, 2024).
The transaction includes:
- COP's 15.96% membership interest in the Shell-operated Ursa Oil Pipeline Co. LLC, which will be held by Shell Pipeline Co.
- COP's 1% working interest in the Shell-operated Europa prospect.
- COP's 3.5% Overriding Royalty Interest in Ursa. This royalty interest was acquired by COP through the Marathon Oil Corp. merger, which was completed in November 2024 (OGJ Online, May 29, 2024).
The Ursa TLP, which began production in 1999, lies about 130 miles (209 km) southeast of New Orleans within the Mars basin.
The Ursa-Princess field has produced more than 800 MMboe over about 25 years.
Full-year 2024 production associated with ConocoPhillips’s 15.96% interest in Ursa field and 1% interest in Europa field was about 8,000 boe/d, the company said.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year’s second quarter, subject to regulatory clearance, preferential rights election, and closing conditions.
