Norway's Saga Petroleum AS has acquired KP North Sea Holdings Ltd. from Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) in a $1.23 billion purchase.
The deal includes KPC's Santa Fe Exploration (U.K.) Ltd. unit and not Santa Fe Drilling (OGJ, Aug. 19, p. 42). Santa Fe has interests in six producing oil fields, including Miller, Alpha, and Gryphon.
Its exploration portfolio includes 44 U.K. offshore blocks, 20 Irish offshore blocks, and one U.K. onshore block. Average interest ownership is 20% off the U.K. and 35% off Ireland.
Saga said the deal paves the way for its active participation in the entire North Sea and Atlantic margin, which includes the areas west of Shetland and Ireland, as well as the Faroese continental shelf. Offshore Norway will remain its main activity area, Saga said.
As a result of the acquisition, Saga's oil production will increase by about 50,000 b/d to about 190,000 b/d. Saga estimates Santa Fe's reserves at about 200 million bbl of oil equivalent, 70% oil and 30% gas.
Saga said the value of Santa Fe's exploration portfolio and possible field developments has been estimated at about 15% of the purchase price. Remaining value is tied to fields currently in production or under development. In addition, the deal gives Saga a 9% interest in Britannia field, largest gas field under development off the U.K. Gas has been sold under life-of-field contracts to four major customers.
Copyright 1996 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
