A partnership between Norway's Statoil and French Total completed the acquisition of a 60 percent interest in the North Platte discovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico from U.S. Cobalt International Energy’s, Statoil said on Wednesday.
The Norwegian company said that they jointly presented the winning bid, with an aggregate purchase price of $339 million, for the asset in a bankruptcy auction on March 6 for some of Cobalt’s assets.
Statoil now owns a 40 percent non-operated interest in North Platte, while Total has increased its existing 40 percent interest to 60 percent and taken over operatorship.
The effective date of the transaction is Jan. 1, 2018.
North Platte is a Paleogene oil discovery covering four blocks in the Garden Banks area of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
It has been fully appraised since its discovery in 2012 with three drilled wells and multiple sidetracks.
Statoil already has interests in eight producing fields in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and has two in development.
Their production in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to reach 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, making Statoil a top-five producer from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr