Tullow Buys Spring Energy Norway

Tullow Oil reported Tuesday that it has agreed to buy Spring Energy Norway for $372 million, while it also announced its intention to dispose of gas assets in the UK and Dutch southern North Sea gas basin.

Tullow, which is well known for its focus on African exploration and production assets, said that the transactions are part of its strategic of active portfolio management, where non-core assets are monetized and the firm's oil exploration portfolio is enhanced.

Spring Energy holds 28 offshore licenses across Norway's continental shelf in the North, Norwegian and Barents Seas. The firm has proved successful in oil exploration, having made six commercial discoveries out of 12 wells drilled since 2008. In 2013 and 2014 it has plans to take part in the drilling of up to 16 exploration wells, of which three will be operated by the company.

Tullow said that its assessment of Spring's exploration portfolio is that it contains in excess of 230 million barrels of oil equivalent of risked prospective resources and has existing reserves and resources of 24 million barrels.

Tullow has decided to divest its exploration, development and production assets in the southern North Sea, where gas produced amounts to approximately 18,000 boepd. This is because it has deemed these assets as non-core to the group since they no longer fit with its light oil-focused portfolio, especially in the light of exploration and development successes in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.

Meanwhile, in a separate announcement Tullow also announced Tuesday that its Okure-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano license, offshore Ghana, has been drilled to its planned total depth of 14,800 feet and discovered a gross 56-foot interval of low net-to-gross oil-bearing Turonian-age sandstones. Light oil with a 40-degree API was recovered from this interval.

Elsewhere in Ghana the Jubilee Phase 1A production well has been brought on stream and is now producing in excess of 16,500 bopd, resulting in field production of more than 90,000 bopd.