French oil giant Total announced yesterday that it would sell off a package of North Sea assets to Petrogas and HitecVision in a deal worth more than £510 million.
Oman-headquartered Petrogras confirmed last night that it would be looking to increase staff numbers and purchase an Aberdeen office space as part of the transaction.
Total will divest its 100% interest in the Dumbarton, Balloch, Drumtochty and Lochranza field.
It will also sell off its more than 60% interests in the Affleck, Flyndre and Cawder fields.
A 31% interest in Cnooc International’s Golden Eagle and a 5% and 2% interest in the Scott and Telford fields was also acquired.
The North Sea assets, spread out over four producing areas, support more than 110 jobs.
Kingsuk Sen, Petrogas chief commercial officer and vice president for Europe, said his firm “intends to build on the current Aberdeen presence” and that no redundancies would result from the deal, which is still subject to approval by authorities.
He said: “We will be looking for more staff as there are gaps that we need to fill to grow the asset base.
“Petrogas will also be searching for office space in Aberdeen as well as in London, and this will be done before the deal is wrapped up in the fourth quarter of this year.”
Total acquired the North Sea assets from Maersk Oil in 2018, making it the second largest operator in the North Sea, which is one of its core areas.
Arnaud Breuillac, president of exploration and production at Total, said: “This transaction is consistent with our portfolio management strategy, aiming at lowering our break-even point by optimising capital allocation and divesting high technical costs assets.”
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