The US oil and gas giant Chevron plans to sell its remaining oil and gas assets in the UK North Sea, as the group is preparing to acquire its rival Hess for US$53bn; Chevron had already announced that the transaction would include US$10bn to US$15bn in global asset sales.
Chevron has been active in the UK North Sea for 55 years, and is one of the last major oil companies still operating in the declining oil basin. The group started to sell UK assets in 2018, with the sale of the Rosebank oil development to Equinor, and the sale of many stakes in the North Sea to Ithaca Energy in 2019. The group's remaining assets include a 19% stake in the Claire Oil field, one of the largest in the UK North Sea basin, with reserves of up to 8 Gbl and an average oil production of 129 kb/d. Chevron will also sell its interests in the Sullom Voe oil terminal, in the Ninian pipeline (running between the Ninian Central platform to the Sullom Voe terminal) and the Shetland Islands Regional Gas Export pipeline. The group denies that the decision is linked to UK’s 35% windfall tax on North Sea producers after the surge in global energy markets in 2022.
The United Kingdom's oil reserves nearly halved between 2016 (501 Mt) and 2022 (272 Mt) and crude oil production fell by more than 21% to 35 Mt in 2022.