Global oil company Chevron has decided to sell most of its oil and gas fields in the British part of the North Sea to Ithaca Energy, a subsidiary of Israel-based Delek Group, for US$2bn (€1.8bn). These assets will quadruple Ithaca's pro-forma production to 80 kboe/d. The transaction is backdated to 1 January 2019 and is pending regulatory approvals. Chevron will retain its 19.4% stake in the BP-operated Clair field, west of Shetland.
Chevron is the second major to pull out of North Sea exploration, after ConocoPhillips divested its British North Sea assets to Chrysaor for £2bn (€2.25bn) in April 2019. The group, as other major oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea, is suffering from falling oil prices and has to sell some assets to specialised operators and private equity-backed investors. Chevron had set a US$5-10bn disposal target for the 2018-2020 period.