Oil giant Shell reinforced its commitment to the North Sea today, buying Hess Corporation’s interests in the Beryl area off Aberdeen for $525 million (£325m).
The Beryl area includes 12 fields on the UK Continental Shelf northeast of Aberdeen. The fields are operated by Apache and linked to the mainland via a 320 kilometre pipeline known as the Scottish Area Gas Evacuation System.
Shell said: “The Beryl cluster has a far longer anticipated lifetime than originally thought and may produce for a further two decades.
“The acquisition should help to enhance the performance and economic potential from key Shell North Sea operated and non-operated assets, lifting Shell’s production in the Beryl area fields from currently 9,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day to 24,000. Shell intends to invest in these assets to substantially extend the production life, for potentially a further 20 years.”
The acquisition takes Shell’s interest in the different sections of Beryl to between 9 per cent 65 per cent, depending on the field.
Last month, Shell completed the acquisition of Hess’s 15.7 per cent interest in the BP operated Schiehallion field, giving it a stake of 49 per cent. The Anglo Dutch firm said it intends to maintain its position as a “leading operator” in the UK sector of the North Sea.