LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - British gas and power utilitySSE expanded its portfolio of North Sea gas interests onFriday by acquiring a 50 percent stake in the Sean gas fieldfrom BP, it said.
The 117.4 million-pound ($180.42 million) sale, which hasnow been finalised, will provide for around 25 percent of SSE'sforecast gas needs to supply its customers over the next threeyears, it said.
"We have made clear that SSE is proactively seeking newopportunities to increase our presence in the upstream gassector where assets can be acquired for a fair price, and thatis exactly what this deal represents," Martin Pibworth, SSE'smanaging director of energy portfolio management said.
BP agreed to sell SSE a stake in the Sean field in Decemberas part of its programme of disposals of non-core assets toraise cash for settling claims from the Macondo disaster in theGulf of Mexico.
The Sean field, which is in the Southern North Sea, isoperated by Royal Dutch Shell.