Through its subsidiary Equinor Energy Ireland, Equinor has signed a deal to sell its stake in the Corrib gas project in Ireland to its partner Vermilion Energy for $434m.
Equinor currently holds a 36.5% stake in the Corrib project while Vermilion owns a 20% stake and serves as the operator. Nephin Energy owns the remaining 43.5%.
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Vermilion said that the stake acquisition in the Corrib field will ‘add approximately 23 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) of 2P reserves’.
With the stake sale, Equinor will remove its active business presence from Ireland.
Equinor UK and Ireland senior vice-president Arne Gürtner said: “The Corrib field has been an important non-operated project for Equinor for several years.
“We have taken the decision to sell the asset to focus our portfolio, in line with our strategy, to capture value from the current strong market and to free up capital that we can re-invest elsewhere.”
Located 83km off Ireland’s northwest coast, in water depths of almost 350m, the Corrib field entered its production phase in 2015.
As part of the transaction, Equinor and Vermilion plan to hedge approximately 70% of the field’s production for 2022 and 2023.
The two parties also agreed to a contingent payment, which would be paid on a portion of the revenue if gas prices in Europe exceed a given floor level.
Set for completion in the second half of 2022, the deal is subject to approval by the regulatory bodies, partners, and the government.
Product from the field is transported through 90km of pipeline to the Bellanaboy Bridge gas plant for processing. From there, it is then delivered to the national grid.
Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Equinor was preparing to divest its stake in the Corrib gas field for approximately $400m.
