French oil giant Total said it has signed an agreement to sell its remaining 15 per cent stake in Gina Krog oilfield at Norway to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) in a deal worth nearly $317 million.

This agreement builds on the 2016 transaction between Total and Kufpec concerning Norwegian North Sea assets, which included a 15 per cent interest in Gina Krog.

Kufpec was established by its parent company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation in 1981 to engage in exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas outside the country. It is currently active in 14 countries with 54 assets in the international upstream sector.

“We have decided to completely divest our interest in the Gina Krog project and focus on other opportunities in Norway, which remains a key country for Total,” commented Arnaud Breuillac, the president for exploration and production at Total.

"This sale is in line with our objective to optimize the Group’s allocation of capital by efficiently managing our portfolio of assets. With the recent acquisition of Maersk Oil & Gas, announced on August 21, the group’s position in the North Sea will be significantly strengthened," observed Breuillac.
 
Upon completion of the sale, Total will no longer have an interest in the Gina Krog field, while the Kuwaiti group will have a 30 per cent stake alongside Statoil (58.7 per cent, operator), PGNiG Upstream International (8 per cent) and Aker BP (3.3 per cent). The overall consideration for both deals will total $617 million.

The Gina Krog oil and gas field started production in June 2017.
 
Total has been present in Norway for over 50 years and has played a major role in the development of a number of large fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The French oil giant holds interests in 85 production licenses (including Gina Krog), 32 of which it operates. The affiliate Total E&P Norge AS, located in Stavanger, is one of the largest contributors to the Group’s equity production with 235,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2016.-TradeArabia News Service