Austrian oil and gas company OMV announced Monday a 2.65-billion-U.S. dollar acquisition of North Sea interests from Norwegian company Statoil, making it the largest industrial investment in Austrian history.
In the deal expected to be closed by the end of 2013, OMV will acquire 19 percent of the Gullfaks oil and gas field, 24 percent of the Gudrun oil and gas field, 30 percent of the Rosebank oil and gas field, and 5.88 percent of the Schiehallion oil field.
In addition to the total payment sum, OMV will also pay a pro rata payment of 500 million dollars for the year 2013.
This will give Austria's largest-listed industrial company access to around 320 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) and associated gas, and a net production for the concern of 40,000 BOE per day in 2014. It also lifts the total BOE reserves of the OMV to around two billion.
The deal also includes the option of participation in 11 of Statoil's oil exploration licenses in the Faroe Islands, west of the Shetland Islands, and in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. In addition, the companies agreed on a strategic partnership in research and development for "enhanced oil recovery."
OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss said the transaction "massively supports the strategy of the OMV" in achieving its 2016 objectives, by acquiring development components in the North Sea that are at the heart of the companies' growth areas.
