By Ron Bousso
LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell hasagreed to sell a package of oil and gas fields to privateequity-backed Chrysaor for $3.8 billion, giving the Anglo-Dutchgroup a major boost in its drive to reduce debt following theacquisition of BG Group.
The deal, which accounts for more than half of Shell'sproduction in the North Sea, will breathe new life into theageing North Sea where production has steadily declined sincethe late 1990s and where oil majors such as Shell and BP havestruggled to generate profits.
Shell earlier on Tuesday announced the sale of a stake inThailand's Bongkot gas field to Kuwait Foreign PetroleumExploration Company for $900 million.
The Anglo-Dutch company said in a statement the North Seadeal included an initial consideration of $3 billion and apayment of up to $600 million between 2018-2021 subject tocommodity prices, with potential further payments of up to $180million for future discoveries.
Reuters reported on the nearing deal last week.
The deal is subject to partner and regulatory approvals,with completion expected in the second half of 2017.
Chrysaor, led by veteran North Sea executive Phil Kirk andbacked by private equity funds Harbour Energy and EIG GlobalEnergy Partners, will become the largest independent operator inthe North Sea after the deal's completion.
"This acquisition reflects Chrysaor's and Harbour's beliefthat the UK North Sea has material future potential for oil andgas production," Kirk said in a statement.
The package includes Shell's interests in Buzzard, north ofAberdeen, a relatively new field that feeds into the globalBrent oil benchmark, as well as a 10 percent stake in theBP-operated Schiehallion oilfield some 110 miles (180 km) westof the Shetland Islands.
Other fields include Beryl, Bressay, Elgin-Franklin,J-Block, the Greater Armada cluster, Everest, Lomond andErskine, Shell said.
Around 400 staff are expected to transfer to Chrysaor oncompletion of the deal.
The assets represent some 115,000 barrels of oil equivalentof production per day (boe/d), more than half of Shell's totalUK North Sea production of 211,000 boe/d last year.
"This deal shows the clear momentum behind Shell's global,value-driven $30 billion divestment programme. It builds onrecent upstream divestments in the Gulf of Mexico and Canada,"Shell Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said in a statement.
"It is also consistent with Shell's strategy to high-gradeand simplify our portfolio following the acquisition of BG," headded. (Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Mark Potter)
