Lime Petroleum to Buy Repsol's Stake in Brage Field Off Norway

Oil company Rex International said Thursday its subsidiary Lime Petroleum had on June 15 2021 agreed to acquire from Repsol stakes the Brage field and five nearby licenses in the North Sea, offshore Norway.

The agreement includes the acquisition of Repsol’s 33.8434 percent interests in the oil, gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) producing Brage field, and the five licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf which the Brage field straddles, for a post-tax fee of US$42.6 million.

"The transformational Acquisition of the Wintershall-operated Brage Field fulfills Lime Petroleum’s ambition to transition from pure-play exploration to a full cycle exploration and production company," Rex said in a statement.

Brage is Wintershall Dea’s first operated manned platform in Norway. Located in the northern North Sea, 125 kilometers west of Bergen, it is one of the oldest producing platforms in Norway.

First discovered in 1980, the field came into production in 1993 and has been in operation ever since. When Wintershall Dea (then Wintershall) took over operatorship from Statoil (now Equinor) in 2013, the platform was granted a lifetime extension until 2030. In 2020, about 1.38 mmboe or 3,800 boepd were produced from the Brage Field, net to Repsol’s 33.8434 percent working interest, Rex said.

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, there are 3.42 million Sm3 of oil equivalent or 21.52 mmboe of remaining reserves in the Brage Field. "Accordingly, net 2P Reserves of about 7.3 mmboe from the Brage Field will be added to Lime Petroleum’s current 2C Contingent Resources of 27.7mmboe," Rex said. 

Lime Petroleum plans to commission a summary qualified person’s report on the Brage field upon completion of the acquisition. "The Company believes that the economics from the current production reserve base in the Brage Field are robust, and there is further upside from future in-fill drilling for production and exploration drilling of high-value near-field prospects that are expected to add further production to the Brage field," the company said. 

Dan Broström, Executive Chairman of Rex International Holding, said, “We are pleased that Repsol has chosen Lime Petroleum to acquire its quality assets in the oil prolific Norwegian Continental Shelf following a robust bidding exercise. Not only does it transform Lime Petroleum from being solely an exploration company to being an exploration and production company starting from 1 January 2021, it also gives the Group a second production field following our success in Oman and adds to the Group’s reserves and contingent resources.”