Siccar Point Energy, a joint venture owned by Blue Water Energy and funds managed by Blackstone Energy Partners, has acquired an 8.9 per cent interest in the Greater Mariner Area from JX Nippon Exploration and Production (UK) Limited.
This acquisition is the first since Siccar Point Energy was launched in August 2014 following its initial funding by Blue Water Energy and Blackstone.
The Mariner Field, the centrepiece of the Greater Mariner Area, is located in the UK sector of the North Sea, on the East Shetland platform, and is one of the largest remaining oil fields in the UK sector. The Mariner development is well underway following project sanction in 2013 and is expected to commence production in 2018. Statoil (UK) Limited is the operator and majority owner, and Siccar Point Energy will be joining existing partners, JX Nippon Exploration and Production (UK) Limited and Dyas Mariner.
Jonathan Roger, CEO of Siccar Point Energy, says: “We believe that this is a great time to build a business in the North Sea for a well-capitalised and experienced team. We are delighted to be joining the Mariner development partnership and look forward to working with the existing highly focussed partners and leading operator. Mariner’s long reserves life and its resilience to near-term low oil prices position it well in the current environment and we continue to look for similar high-quality assets to add to our asset portfolio.”
Mustafa Siddiqui, managing director at Blackstone, says: “We are very pleased to be supporting Siccar Point Energy’s investment in the Greater Mariner Area. This is a world-class asset with a best-in-class operator and running room for further investment, and provides a strong platform for further acquisitions in the consolidating North Sea region. Siccar Point Energy has the ability and appetite to invest at a large scale in the North Sea region at a time of capital scarcity, and we look forward to building on this first step in the company’s growth.”
Graeme Sword, partner of Blue Water Energy, says: "We are delighted that we can participate in high quality fields, with top quality partners in the UK North Sea. We believe this is a validation that there are still attractive investments to be made in the UK North Sea and we will continue to support Siccar Point as they build their footprint with further acquisitions."
Siccar Point has also appointed Chris Finlayson as chairman. Finlayson was, until 2014, the chief executive of BG Group.
