Statoil has agreed to sell several of its Norwegian oil and gas assets to Wintershall for $1.3bn.
The company will sell stakes in four fields, exiting two completely, and divest part of the Polarled pipeline.
As part of the deal, Wintershall will acquire a 24% stake in the Aasta Hansteen gas field and a 13.2% interest in the Polarled pipeline project.
Wintershall will also buy a 19% stake of the Asterix field and a 24.5% interest in Vega, and a 5% stake in Gjoea.
Production from Gjoea and Vega fields averaged 22,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day in the first-half of this year.
The agreement will increase Wintershall’s daily production in Norway to about 60,000 boe from the current 40,000 boe.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Statoil and Wintershall have also agreed to work together on the exploitation of the exploration potential in the Vøring Basin.
Statoil president for development and production Norway, Arne Sigve Nylund, said: “We realise significant value created through successful asset development. The transaction increases our flexibility to further strengthen our portfolio.
“We have a strong portfolio of projects. This transaction focuses our NCS portfolio and further improves our capacity to invest in core areas.”
Statoil plans to invest about $20bn annually by 2016. This includes NCS project Gudrun, which commenced in April this year, while Valemon will come on-stream by the end of 2014.
The Aasta Hansteen and Gina Krogh projects are currently in the execution phase, while Johan Sverdrup and Johan Castberg are under planning.
Statoil, which operates in 36 countries, plans to explore 50 wells worldwide this year.
