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French Oil giant sells Kuwait stake in Norwegian field

September 5, 2017 at 10:43 am

The logo of the French oil giant Total SA is seen at the entrance of the company headquarters in the La Defense business district, west of Paris on 5 February, 2013 [Wikipedia]

French Oil giant, Total, has agreed to sell Kuwait its remaining stake in the Norwegian oil field Gina Krog to focus on its recent acquisition of Danish Oil Company, Maersk.

Total said in a statement yesterday that it “has signed an agreement to divest its remaining 15 per cent interest in the Gina Krog field in Norway to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC)”.

In May Kuwait revealed it would allocate $110.4 billion to boost the country’s oil sector over the following five years.

Total’s head of exploration and production, Arnaud Breuillac, said “in the framework of our portfolio management and optimisation of the allocation of capital, we have decided to fully divest our interest in the Gina Krog project and focus on other opportunities in Norway”.

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“With the recent acquisition of Maersk Oil and Gas, the group’s position in the North Sea will be significantly strengthened, in particular in Norway,” he added.

Total announced on 21 August that it was preparing to buy Maersk for $7.45 billion to become the second largest operator in the North Sea, with activities in Britain, Norway and Denmark.

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti company confirmed the $317 million new deal with Total.

Total sold Kuwait 15 per cent of its stake in Gina Krog in 2016, making the two deals worth $600 million.

The Gina Krog field is located in the North Sea and is supervised by Norway’s Statoil Group.