Norwegian oil and gas company Vår Energi has reached an agreement with Petrolia NOCO (Petrolia) to sell its 12.25% stake in the Brage field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Located in the central North Sea, Barge is a crude oil producing field, 125km west of Bergen.

Barge was discovered in 1980 and production from it began in 1993.

With reservoirs at a depth of 2,000-2,300 metres, the field produces oil from sandstone of the Early Jurassic age in the Statfjord Group, and sandstone of the Middle Jurassic age in the Brent Group and the Fensfjord Formation, according to OKEA, which owns a 35.2% stake in the field as the operator.

Other partners in the field include Lime Petroleum that has a 33.8% stake, DNO Norge with a 14.2% stake and M Vest Energy with the remaining 4.4% stake.

In the first half of 2023, Vr Energi's net production from the field was 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and at year's end in 2022, it still had 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent in net reserves.

Vår Energi CFO Stefano Pujatti said: “The transaction is part of Vår Energi’s ongoing portfolio optimisation process, in line with stated long term strategic drivers and performance metrics to reduce cost and enhance value creation.”

Subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to complete by the end of this year.

Vår Energi said the divesture will not affect its production guidance.

Late last month, energy industry focused investment company, HitecVision sold a 6.3% stake in Vår Energi for $423m (Nkr4.5bn).

Vår Energi is majority owned by Italian oil and gas major Eni, which owns a 63.04% stake in the Norwegian company.