Tailwind to buy BP's UK Shearwater field

UK operator Tailwind Energy said on May 24 it had agreed to buy BP's 27.5% non-operated interest in the Shell-operated Shearwater gas field in the North Sea. 

The deal, subject to partner and regulatory approvals, will be backdated to January 1, 2021 once completed and will add "another high-quality producing asset to our portfolio," Tailwind said. The company, founded in London in 2016, purchased fellow North Sea operator Decipher Energy in April, giving it 100% interests in the producing Mansell and Orlando fields and the Senna discovery.

Tailwind also has positions in the Triton area and the Serica-operated Colombus field in the North Sea, as well as the Conwy field in the East Irish Sea. Columbus is 35 km northeast of Shearwater and is on track to start flowing gas in the fourth quarter, using the latter's infrastructure.

BP has been trying to sell its stake in Shearwater for several years. It agreed in early 2020 to sell its positions in Shearwater and the Andrew Area to Premier Oil, initially for $625mn, though the price tag was later cut to $210mn in light of the oil price collapse. The deal collapsed after Premier agreed to merge with Chrysaor to form Harbour Energy.

BP relaunched the sales process for the assets in January, according to Reuters.

Shearwater is 225 km east of Aberdeen and produces both gas and condensate. Its gas is piped to the Bacton terminal via the SEAL pipeline, while its condensate is delivered to Grangemouth and Cruden Bay through the Forties system. The high-pressure, high-temperature field has been developed with a process, utilities and quarters platform linked via bridge to a wellhead platform.