By Fred Pals
June 14 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the U.K. unit of Exxon Mobil Corp. said they will sell stakes in North Sea assets because of high operational costs.
The assets up for sale include drilling rigs and production licenses and infrastructure, the companies said in a joint statement sent by e-mail today.
Shell’s production in the North Sea will be reduced by about 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent after the sale, almost 10 percent of its total output from the region.
“These are relatively high cost assets within our European portfolio, where other operators might be better placed to add value,” Tom Botts, executive vice president of Shell Exploration and Production in Europe, said in the statement.
The stakes in the Cormorant Alpha, Cormorant North, Tern, Eider, Kestrel and Pelican interests, as well as Otter and Hudson, will be offered “to the market on an open, competitive basis,” according to the statement.
Shell is the operator on behalf of Exxon Mobil in the U.K. sector of the North Sea.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Pals in Amsterdam at [email protected]
Last Updated: June 14, 2007 06:00 EDT
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