#EnQuest and #Nautical Petroleum in #North Sea #Kraken development deal

North Sea development deals are pushing forward even in a time of economic uncertainty. The North Sea is widely regarded as a mature region and ROI on UKCS assets is deemed difficult to gain. But just how correct is this? The region has been paid plenty of attention since the UK Government’s tax increase in 2011, Statoil and Lundin Petroleum’s historic discovery in the Aldous prospect and BP’s mammoth investment in the North Sea. If recent months are anything to go by there is still plenty of life and activity in the North Sea. . .

ENQUEST, the North Sea-focused oil and gas firm, has underlined its enthusiasm for the mature province by agreeing to pay up to $240 million (£150m) for a stake in an oil find east of Shetland. Reported Herald Scotland.

The independent is set to acquire a 25% holding in the Kraken find from Nautical Petroleum in a deal that vindicates the vendor’s faith in the investment potential of heavy oil.

The Kraken field was discovered by Occidental in 1985 but was left undeveloped. Recent advances in technology have made it possible to develop heavy oil deposits that were previously considered to be uneconomic.

Nautical was awarded the licence containing Kraken in 2003, since when it has drilled five appraisal wells and an exploration sidetrack.

It says these have proved Kraken is a "substantial oil accumulation" and ready to be moved into planning for production development.

EnQuest showed its belief in Kraken’s potential two weeks ago when it acquired a 20% stake in the field.

It agreed to pay Canamens up to $90m for a holding in the blocks containing the find and other exploration acreage.

Following completion of the deal with Nautical, subject to regulatory and partner consents, EnQuest will become operator of Kraken. That will give it a big influence on the pace of development.

Amjad Bseisu, chief executive of EnQuest, said: "EnQuest is very pleased to increase its interest in Kraken and to become the future operator of the proposed development."

The acquisitions are expected to result in a big increase in EnQuest’s resource base.

Mr Bseisu said: "Based on the operator’s estimates, this 25% interest in Kraken provides 40 million barrels (MMboe) of contingent resources which, when combined with the 32 MMboe of contingent resources from the 20% interest that EnQuest acquired from Canamens, adds almost 70% to EnQuest’s end 2010 contingent resources." Full article available here 

Amjad Bseisu and Steve Jenkins, CEO, Nautical Petroleum will be joining the Oil and Gas Outlook North Sea conference in March as key speakers.

They will offer key insights into their projects in the North Sea, offering insights into development opportunities and the potential for gaining a good ROI in UKCS assets.

EnQuest and Nautical will join leading North Sea operators including BP, Wintershall, Centrica, Total, BG Group, Premier Oil, OMV UK and RWE Dea plus many more.

For a full list of topics and speakers download the brochure here or visit the website here