The UK utility Centrica and the German company Stadtwerke München (SWM) have inked a deal with the Norwegian company Bayerngas Norge AS (the Norwegian affiliate of Bayerngas) and will set up a new joint venture (JV) in order to merge their oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) activities.
Centrica will hold a 69% stake of the new entity while Bayerngas Norge (SWM and Bayerngas) will own the remaining 31% share. The transaction is expected to be completed in Q4 2017 and still remains subject to regulatory approvals.
The newly created JV will be mostly gas weighted and approximately 66% of the company's reserves (2P reserves of 409 Mboe and 2C reserves of 216 Mboe as of December 2016) will consist of natural gas. It will include Centrica’s assets in several countries (the UK, Netherlands and Norway) and Bayerngas Norge’s assets in the UK, Norway and Denmark. The company's production is expected to range between 50 and 55 Mboe from 27 fields in 2017.