COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Equinor and Shell announced plans to combine their British offshore oil and gas assets on Thursday, with the two groups aiming to bring them together in an equally owned joint venture.

This joint venture, which will be based in Aberdeen, Scotland, is expected to produce more than 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The operation is expected to be finalized by the end of 2025.

“The new company will ensure a long-term sustainable future for oil and gas fields and platforms, helping to extend the life of this crucial sector for the benefit of the UK,” Shell and Equinor said in a press release.

Although the new entity would become the largest independent producer in the British North Sea, there are no plans to proceed with an IPO, Zoe Yujnovich, director of Shell Upstream, told reporters.

The new company will include Equinor’s interests in the Mariner, Rosebank and Buzzard fields, as well as Shell’s interests in the Shearwater, Penguins, Gannet, Nelson, Pierce, Jackdaw, Victory, Clair and Schiehallion fields, the group said. Norwegian.

A series of exploration licenses will also be part of the transaction.

Equinor will retain ownership of the Utgard, Barnacle and Statfjord cross-border assets, located between Norway and Great Britain, as well as its offshore wind portfolio including Sheringham Shoal, Dudgeon, Hywind Scotland and Dogger Bank.

Equinor will also retain assets related to hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, power generation, battery storage and gas.

Shell will retain ownership of its interests in the Fife LNG plant, the St Fergus gas terminal and the floating wind projects under development, MarramWind and CampionWind.

Shell UK will also remain the technical developer of Acorn, Scotland’s largest carbon capture and storage project, Equinor said.

(Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Elena Smirnova, edited by Augustin Turpin)

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