Tullow to buy two gas fields

TULLOW Oil has announced its second major takeover this year.

The exploration firm plans to spend 291 million on two gas fields in the North Sea.

The moves follows the acquisition of Energy Africa in May, which cost Tullow €373m.

In a statement to the stock exchange, Tullow said it was buying 100% of the Ketch field and just over 90% of the Schooner field, both of which are in the southern North Sea and are jointly owned by Shell and Esso.

The two fields have been producing gas from the mid-1990s at a rate of 60 million cubic feet a day.

Tullow chief executive Aidan Heavey said the deal was “a step-change” for its British business and capped an “amazing year.”

“Following on from the Energy Africa acquisition, the Schooner and Ketch acquisition completes a transforming year for Tullow, during which the company has concluded over a billion dollars of transactions.”

Shares gained 3.3% on the London Stock Exchange yesterday to 150p.

The fields have a combined reserves of 1,500 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas, of which 350bcf has been recovered. Tullow says it plans to increase existing production levels of the fields.

It added that through the Schooner takeover it has got access to a nearby site and plans to look for gas.

According to Davy Stockbrokers, the takeover will add 0.5p to its 2005 earnings per share (EPS) forecasts and 2p to the 2006 EPS figure.