Tag Archive for: Shell

Shell sells onshore Gabon oil assets to Carlyle for $587 mln

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Carlyle Group has bought Royal Dutch Shell’s onshore assets in Gabon for $587 million as the world’s largest private equity fund expands in the global oil and gas sector.

For Shell, the deal marks a further step in a $30 billion asset disposal programme to help cut debt after its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group last year. The Anglo-Dutch oil company has sold assets for more than $15 billion since 2016.

Shell’s Gabon assets will be incorporated into Carlyle-backed Assala Energy, which is led by former Tullow Oil executive David Roux and will focus on energy opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa, Carlyle said in a statement on Friday.

The assets operated by Shell produce approximately 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which 40,000 boed go to the company. Under the deal, which is expected to close in the summer, Assala Energy will assume a debt of $285 million.

For Shell, the transaction will result in an impairment charge of $53 million after tax which will be taken in the first quarter of 2017, it said in a separate statement. About 430 local Shell employees will become part of Assala Energy.

The capital for the investment will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), a $2.5 billion fund that invests in global oil and gas exploration and production, and the $698 million Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund (SSA).

Private equity funds have increased their presence in oil exploration and production companies outside the United States since the collapse in oil prices in 2014, snapping up assets from oil companies seeking to reduce debt and narrow operations.

CIEP has invested $500 million in Mazarine Energy to make bolt-on acquisitions in southern Europe and North Africa.

It also set up, together with private equity fund CVC Partners, North Sea investment vehicle Neptune, headed by former Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw, which is expected to make an investment in the near future.

 

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 Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Alexander Smith /  REUTERS

Fri Mar 24, 2017 | 6:04am EDT

13 Companies prequalified for Mexico’s oil industry Round 2.1

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As of January 16, 13 companies have initiated the prequalification process for Round 2.1, the shallow water exploration and extraction contract auction process that Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) intends to award in June 19 of this year. According to CNH’s website, the companies are:

  • US: Chevron, Conoco Philips, Hunt Overseas Oil Company, Noble Energy.

  • UK: BP, Premier Oil Exploration and Production, Shell (UK-Netherlands)

  • México: Citla Energy E&P, Sierra O&G.

  • Germany: Dea Deutsche Erdoel AG.

  • Italy: ENI.

  • Norway: Statoil.

The auction, originally planned for March 22, was postponed until June after CNH received formal requests from four interested companies. The R02-L01 process will tender 15 shallow water fields in the Gulf of Mexico, in the areas of Tampico-Misantla, Veracruz and the Southeastern Basin. The fields have an average 592 km2 area and 1,587 million boe in prospective resources. The first oil and gas production from these fields is expected to be delivered in 2020. A total of 23 companies have expressed interest in the process. The final companies that will participate in the auction will be announced by CNH on March 1.

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Copyright: Oil and gas mexico

Shell Midstream Partners buys stake in three Gulf of Mexico pipelines

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Houston based Shell Midstream Partners has acquired minority stakes in three pipelines located in The Gulf of Mexico from BP for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition is said to be a move to consolidate its corridor pipeline strategy in the region for Shell Midstream.

The company has acquired 10% stake in the Proteus Oil Pipeline Company, 10% in the Endymion Oil Pipeline Company and 1% in Cleopatra Gas Gathering Company.

Shell Midstream Partners CEO John Hollowell said: “Our sponsor, Shell Pipeline Company is currently building the Mattox pipeline to serve the recently sanctioned Appomattox platform. 

“Proteus and Endymion will connect the Mattox pipeline to onshore markets, creating a new corridor line, which will transport all of Appomattox’s volumes once it comes online toward the end of the decade.”

Proteus, a 71-mile crude oil pipeline of 425,000 bpd capacity, gives access to the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico from the Thunder Horse and Thunder Hawk platform to the Proteus SP 89E Platform. 

Hollowell added: “Proteus also connects to the Thunder Horse platform which is a key development field for BP and ExxonMobil.  In addition to Thunder Horse, Proteus is also currently connected to the Noble Energy, Inc. operated Thunder Hawk platform.” 

Endymion, an 89-mile crude oil pipeline of 425,000 bpd capacity, also gives access to the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico. With access to multiple markets, Endymion is connected to LOOP Clovelly storage.

A 115-mile gas gathering pipeline in Southern Green Canyo, Cleopatra is connected to the Holstein, Atlantis, Neptune, Shenzi and Mad Dog platforms. It has access to Atwater Valley, Lund and Walker Ridge areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

Howell concluded: “This acquisition will deepen our footprint in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, an active area with a number of discoveries currently under appraisal.”

Shell Midstream revealed that the collective acquisition sum was equivalent to nearly 7.7 times its forecasted annual average adjusted EBITDA attributable to the purchased stakes during 2017 and 2018.

The amount was financed through borrowings under its revolving credit facilities and the acquisition is likely to be instantly accretive to shareholders, said the energy and petrochemicals consortium.

Shell Midstream Partners’ board of directors of its general partner have approved the acquisition terms.

 

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Copyright: Energy and Business Review

Over 20 Oil Companies Register for Auction Mexican Gulf Blocks

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For the auction of 10 blocks in waters of the Gulf of Mexico 21 oil companies have registered to participate, among them Spanish Repsol, Norwegian Statoil and French Total, together with Mexican Pemex, it was known today.

British BP, Anglo-Dutch Shell, Chevron and Exxon Mobil, both of the United States have also registered.

These four international megacorporations, which in the past made up the influential group known as The Seven Sisters, and for decades were owners of the Mexican crude, attempt to recover the exploitation of oil fields, says daily La Jornada.

Through the license contract, the National Commission of Hydrocarbons (CNH) allows winner companies to exploit oil deposits.

Up to 1938, before nationalization of the oil industry, decreed by president Lazaro Cardenas, seven foreign companies -five of the U.S. and two British- were owners of Mexican oil.

As it transcended, the seven transnationals were baptized by Enrico Mattei, considered father of the Italian energy industry, as the Seven Sisters.

The opening date for presentation of proposals for handing concessions on exploitation of a máximum period of 50 years of the 10 auctioned blocks, located in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, will be set on December 5, 2016.

Copyright: Prensa Latina