Hess, OAO reach deal

Hess, OAO reach deal

NEW YORK

The Hess Corp. has entered into an agreement with OAO LUKOIL to sell 100 percent of its Russian subsidiary Samara-Nafta for a total consideration of more than $2 billion.

Based on its 90 percent interest in Samara-Nafta, total after tax proceeds to Hess are expected to amount to approximately $1.8 billion.

Samara-Nafta is currently producing 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the Volga-Urals region of Russia.

So far in 2013, in an effort to streamline its operations and focus strictly on exploration and production, Hess has announced or completed the sale of its interests in the Beryl field in the U.K. North Sea, the Eagle Ford play in Texas and the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli fields in Azerbaijan and the associated pipeline.

Including Samara-Nafta, the total after-tax proceeds from these sales will amount to approximately $3.4 billion.

New oil resources found in North Sea

OSLO, Norway

Norwegian energy company Statoil ASA says it has found “significant” new oil resources in the North Sea.

State-controlled Statoil estimated there are between 40 million and 150 million recoverable barrels in the new discovery in the Gullfaks oil field, adding the estimate “involves a high degree of uncertainty.”

The Gullfaks field has been in production since the 1980s. Statoil owns considerable acreage in the Marcellus Shale play.

Oeystein Michelsen, executive vice president for Statoil’s development and production in Norway, called the discovery “a result of Statoil’s strategy for revitalization of the Norwegian continental shelf.”

Norway has stepped up efforts to find more oil near existing North Sea fields and move exploration into Arctic waters in a bid to offset a decline in production.

BP to buy back shares

HOUSTON, TX.

BP announced in March that it intends to carry out a share repurchase, or buy-back, with a total value of up to $8 billion.

The decision to buy back shares follows the completion of BP’s 50 percent interest sale in TNK-BP to Russian oil giant Rosneft, which now owns TNK.

The buy-back is expected to return to BP shareholders an amount equivalent to the value of the company’s original investment in TNK, once the third-largest Russian oil producer.

In 2003 BP invested around $8 billion in cash, shares and assets in the formation of TNK-BP.

Over the following decade, BP received a total of $19 billion in dividends from the joint venture.

BP sold its interest in TNK-BP to Rosneft, followed by a reinvestment in Rosneft shares, for an overall consideration of $12.48 billion in cash (including $0.71 billion in TNK-BP dividends received by BP in December 2012) together with shares representing 18.5 percent of Rosneft.

As a result, BP now has a 19.75 percent interest in Rosneft.