The Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC (TAQA.AD) is in exclusive talks to buy stakes in several U.K. North Sea oil and gas fields from Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) and ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), the company, known as TAQA, said in a statement Friday.
Shell and ExxonMobil announced last year that they wanted to sell their equity interests in the Tern, Eider, Cormorant North and South Cormorant fields and related sub-sea satellite fields and infrastructure, situated in the Northern North Sea.
The purchase will be subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence and the negotiation of a sale and purchase agreement with the sellers, the statement said.
The U.K. Health and Safety Executive upheld several complaints from offshore unions last November that Shell had been neglecting maintenance work on the fields included in this deal. The unions said there were gaps in safety-critical positions at the offshore installations and a deterioration in communications between the company and its workers that was affecting morale and safety procedures.
TAQA said it has signed an agreement, subject to proceeding with the deal, appointing Aberdeen-based John Wood Group (WG.LN) to provide engineering services to the fields.
TAQA acquired BP PLC's (BP) Dutch gas exploration and production operations for $694 million in 2006, including onshore, offshore and storage facilities. It also bought the stake in the U.K.'s Brae field held by Canada's Talisman Energy (TLM) for $550 million and a share in the nearby undeveloped Drum field from Reach Exploration Ltd.
Last August, the company closed a $2 billion purchase of Northrock Resources, the Calgary-based exploration arm of Houston's Pogo Producing Co. and announced plans to acquire Pioneer Canada for $540 million.
TAQA is majority owned by the Abu Dhabi government and has 24.9% of its shares listed on the Abu Dhabi stock market. It holds AED68 billion ($18.5 billion) in assets in power generation, water desalination, upstream oil and gas, pipelines and gas storage.