Wellesley Petroleum AS and Equinor Energy AS have signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement covering several development assets on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The transaction is as follows:
• Equinor to acquire a 40% participating interest in licences PL090 JS, PL248 I and PL925, containing the Grosbeak and Kallasen discoveries. Additionally, Equinor will assume operatorship of all three licences.
• Wellesley to acquire a 10% participating interest in licence PL942, containing the Orn discovery and a 20% participating interest in licences PL878 and PL878 B, containing the Atlantis and Canon discoveries.
The transactions are subject to the normal authority approvals.
Chris Elliott, CEO of Wellesley commented:
"This transaction provides Wellesley with a balanced non-operated oil and gas development portfolio with very favourable ESG characteristics. We are proud of our role in operating a successful appraisal campaign on Grosbeak and moving the asset through the DG1 development phase. Post-transaction, Wellesley will retain a 23.7% participating interest in Grosbeak.
At this point, Equinor is the best placed company to operate the project, given their development experience in the area. We look forward to maturing Grosbeak towards FID together with Equinor and our partners.
Orn and Atlantis are highly attractive gas development assets, and as a result of this transaction, Wellesley will hold a material 40% participating interest in each project. We will continue to contribute as an active non-operating partner to secure a 2022 PDO submission for Orn and to mature Atlantis and Canon as subsea tiebacks to the Kvitebjorn facility.”
