Private equity groups make $500m UK North Sea oil investment
Buyout groups Blackstone and Blue Water Energy are providing $500m to Siccar Point Energy, a new UK-focused oil company, in one of the largest ever private equity investments in North Sea oil.
The move highlights the continuing international appeal of Britain’s offshore oilfields, in spite of increasing competition from newer and more prolific basins in Africa and the US and uncertainty over the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence.
“This is one of the most opportune times to buy assets in the North Sea,” said Jonathan Roger, chief executive of Siccar Point. “The market is very buoyant.”
Private equity is no stranger to the North Sea. Warburg Pincus and Riverstone have backed Fairfield Energy, a UK-focused independent, while Barclays Natural Resource Investments has a stake in Chrysaor, a private company focused on commercialising dormant discoveries in the North Sea and Ireland.
Siccar Point is backed by Blue Water Energy, a London-based private equity firm founded in 2011 that last year closed an $861m fund for investments in oil and gas. It has already put cash into a refined product storage company and two oilfield services groups.
The growth of PE-backed private companies in the North Sea comes at a time when publicly listed exploration and production (E&P) companies have fallen out of favour with investors. Many have discovered oil but have struggled to raise the cash needed to extract it.
Source: FT
