DNO, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, has announced the divestment of its 7.604 percent stake in the Ekofisk Previously Produced Fields (PPF) project in license PL018B and PL018F on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to Orlen Upstream Norway AS.
DNO also announced the acquisition from Orlen of a 20 percent interest in license PL1135, which contains the Cassio prospect, as well as a 0.8272 percent interest in the Verdande field.
'As we continue to highgrade our North Sea portfolio, our focus is on increasing near-term cash flow with less spend and more barrels more quickly,' said DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. 'Ekofisk PPF covers redevelopment of older, shut-in fields with expected production start in 2029 and while the project fits other companies’ portfolios, we have chosen to deploy our share of the significant capital expenditure necessary in ways that play to our strengths, namely exploration and rapid-fire development of our existing discoveries,' he added.
DNO will retain its 7.604 percent in PL018 containing the producing fields Ekofisk, Eldfisk and Embla as well as a share in the Tor Unit.
The acquisition of additional interests in Verdande brings DNO’s total interest in the Verdande Unit containing five licenses to 14.8251 percent, including 3.5 percent from the recently announced asset swap with Aker BP. Verdande, located in the Norne area, is currently in advanced development and scheduled to start production later this year.
Cassio is located directly north of DNO-operated PL1086 (50 percent interest), which includes the Othello discovery. An exploration well on Cassio is expected in late 2026.
The all-cash transactions are conditional on customary government approvals.
Source: DNO
