Shell has reached an agreement with Austrian oil and gas company OMV to sell OMV its entire stakes in upstream activities in New Zealand for US$578m.
Under the terms of the agreement, OMV will acquire Shell’s 48% interest in the Pohokura gas field, its 83.75% interest in the Maui field, as well as related infrastructure for production, storage and transportation. OMV is an existing partner in the acquired assets with 26% in Pohokura and 10% in Maui, and will assume operatorship in both joint ventures. Pohokura is New Zealand's largest gas field. In the first two months of 2018, the two fields produced an average of 31,000 boe/d. In 2016, they accounted for 57% of New Zealand's gas production with 2.7 bcm.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, pending normal regulatory approvals. The sale is part of Shell’s strategy to divest US$30bn of assets by the end 2018.
In parallel to the acquisition of the interests in Pohokura and Maui, OMV has also acquired Shell’s 60.98 % interest in the Great South Basin exploration block (GSB). The transfer of GSB is immediately effective and increased OMV’s stake in GSB to 82.93%.