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LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Private equity fund HitecVision
and its British unit Neo have entered exclusive negotiations to
buy Exxon’s upstream assets in the central and northern
North Sea, Hitec said on Thursday.
Bids for ExxonMobil's British North Sea oil and gas fields,
which were expected to fetch about $1 billion, were due on Oct.
28, two sources with knowledge of the process told Reuters last
September.
"HitecVision/NEO Energy have entered exclusive negotiations
to purchase ExxonMobil’s upstream assets in the central and
northern North Sea, which, if successful, are expected to result
in a signed sales agreement in the first quarter, with close
later in the year," it said.
HitecVision, via a partnership with Eni, bought
Exxon's Norwegian North Sea assets for $4.5 billion in 2019.
For a Factbox on North Sea oil deals, click.
Most of Exxon's British operations are managed through Esso
Exploration and Production UK, a 50-50 joint venture with Royal
Dutch Shell.
The portfolio under discussion under the October deadline,
which excludes assets in the southern North Sea, produces around
35,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which is expected to
increase to just under 60,000 boe/d by around 2023, the sources
said.
Initially, Exxon hoped to raise more than $2 billion from
the sale and it was planned for late 2019. In June 2020 sources
told Reuters the portfolio was more likely to fetch $1 to $1.5
billion given the oil price weakness last year.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla
Editing by David Goodman and Barbara Lewis)
