Tullow agrees sale of Dutch gas assets

Tullow Oil has continued its non-core asset disposal programme by agreeing the sale of four Dutch -based gas assets for almost €63m.

The Irish-founded exploration firm, which is becoming increasingly focused on production at its various African assets, has been gradually off -loading its gas interests and exiting non-core territories over the past 12 months.

Last year, Tullow announced the sales of its interests in Bangladesh and Pakistan and, earlier this year, the company sold majority stakes in two British North Sea gas fields for nearly $76m (€58m).

Yesterday’s announcement — which saw Tullow enter into an agreement to sell four blocks in the Dutch North Sea to AU Energy BV, a subsidiary of Swiss commodity trading group Mercuria Energy, for €62.7m — is the latest element of this strategy.

The four-block portfolio being sold actually comprises a suite of seven licence interests and six developed fields, which produce a combined 1,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day net to Tullow.

The company’s chief executive Aidan Heavey said yesterday that the sale is a further step towards Tullow’s planned divestment of its North Sea gas assets, “in order to focus our business on conventional light oil”.

“The previously announced agreement to sell part of our interests in the UK Schooner and Ketch unit to Faroe Petroleum, for a total consideration of $75.6m, is on track to complete before the end of the year, and the divestment of our remaining UK and Dutch gas assets is progressing well,” he added.

While Tullow is focused on developing oil finds in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, it is not ignoring Europe totally; recently saying that it his confident of hitting a major new commercial oil resource at its interests off the coast of Norway.

The company recently reported a first-half net loss of $95m on the back of a write-off of exploration costs relating to failed works in Norway, Ethiopia and Mauritania.