Det Norske to Appeal Norway’s Decision On Ownership of Johan Sverdrup Field
Despite clinching a last-minute deal with workers associations earlier this month, Norway’s gas industry failed sending positive signals to markets. Det Norske announced in a note that it will appeal the recent decision on the ownership interests on Johan Sverdup field, while Germany’s Wintershall came up dry in Norway’s PL734.
“For Det norske, it is a decisive principle that the ownership interests in Johan Sverdrup are to be distributed according to a combination of volume and value. We do not see this principle reflected in The Ministry of Petroleum & Energy (MPE) decision on the unitization split”, CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik said on Wednesday, reporting the second-quarter results.
In February, Det norske argued that it should have a larger share in the field than the 11.89% proposed by operator Statoil. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy recently decided to cut to 11.57% its stake in the field, which is expected to start production by the end of 2019.
The company, which secured approximately USD 1 billion in additional liquidity during the second quarter through issuing a new USD 300 million subordinated bond, reported mixed figures: oil production significantly increased to 5.3 mmboe in the second quarter of the current year, while gas revenues slightly decreased. All in all, EBIT was better than in the same period of 2014, but worse than expectations.
‘EBITDA amounted to USD 239 (33) million in the quarter and EBIT was USD 122 (20) million. Net earnings for the quarter were USD 7 (27) million’ the company wrote.
Meanwhile, the exploration well 10/4-1 in the southern North Sea, operated by Wintershall Norge AS, did not encounter hydrocarbons.
‘The well was drilled in PL734, approximately 35 km southeast of the Yme field in the southern North Sea.The exploration well 10/4-1, operated by Wintershall Norge AS, was targeting the Zeppelin prospect. The primary objective for the well was to prove the presence of hydrocarbons in sandstones of the Middle to Late Jurassic Vestland Group’ Lundin Petroleum wrote on Wednesday.
Wintershall Norge AS (40% working interest) is the operator of PL734, while Lundin Norway and Centrica Resources (Norge) AS both hold a 30% stake.