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* Deal would make Chrysaor biggest UK oil, gas producer
* Chrysaor backed by private equity firm EIG Global Partners
By Shadia Nasralla and Ron Bousso
LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Private-equity backed Chrysaoris near a deal to buy U.S. group ConocoPhillips' BritishNorth Sea oilfields, two sources close to the process said, adeal that would make it the basin's biggest producer.
Britain's ageing North Sea has undergone a majortransformation in recent years as long-standing producers havesold assets to smaller players such as Chrysaor that say theycan squeeze more money out of fields due to nimbler operations.
Chrysaor and Conoco have agreed on the main terms of theacquisition in recent weeks but the deal, expected to be signedin the coming days, could still fall through, the sources said.
Conoco, having entered the British North Sea over 50 yearsago, produced around 77,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day(boed) there in 2018, according to its website.
With Chrysaor aiming to produce up to 130,000 boed by nextyear, the acquisition would catapult it to becoming the BritishNorth Sea's largest producer ahead of BP, which is aiming togrow its British North Sea output to 200,000 boed by 2020.
BMO Capital Markets and Jefferies are acting for Chrysaor inrelation to the Conoco assets, the sources said.
The value of the deal and how much cash would actuallychange hands was still unclear.
Parties involved in the bidding process estimated the assetscould be worth up to $2.8 billion, depending on which date thesides agree as the start of the deal, which could go back to asearly as January 2018.
Chrysaor, backed by private equity firm EIG Global Partners,became one of the biggest North Sea player after acquiringassets from Royal Dutch Shell for $3.8 billion in 2017.
Energy and chemicals firm Ineos, privately owned by Britishbillionaire Jim Ratcliffe, had previously abandoned exclusivetalks with the U.S. company over the fields, including a 7.5percent stake in the Clair project West of the Shetland Islands,whose other owners are BP, Shell and Chevron.
Another bidder was energy-focussed private equity groupHitecVision, which has been expanding aggressively in theNorwegian North Sea, partially in partnership with Eni.
Shell has said it produced 140,000 bpd last year, Total around 180,000 boed and smallercompanies such as Premier and EnQuest produceless than 100,000 boed in the British North Sea, according tocompany and Stifel research data.
Chevron, which is estimated to produce around 75,000 bpd inthe region, is also in process of selling its British North Seaassets. Israel's Delek via its North Sea unit IthacaEnergy is front-runner for the portfolio, industry sources say.
Chrysaor, Jefferies and BMO declined to comment. AConocoPhillips spokesman said the group was marketing itsBritish North Sea assets excluding London and Teesside but wouldnot comment further.
(Additional reporting by Gary McWilliams in Houston; editing byDavid Evans)
