April 5 (UPI) — Norwegian energy company DNO said Thursday it made another investment to take on more shares in its counterpart, Faroe Petroleum, to support North Sea work.
DNO said Thursday it acquired another 8.5 million shares in Faroe Petroleum for $14.8 million. The grab represents 2.3 percent of the outstanding shares in Faroe and brings its total acquisition to 27.7 percent.
The announcement followed Wednesday’s acquisition in shares in Faroe Petroleum from Delek Group Ltd., an Israeli conglomerate, for $99 million. DNO added that “it does not intend to make an offer for Faroe Petroleum.”
Faroe, which focuses on production in British and Norwegian waters, ended last year with proved plus probable reserves of 97.7 million barrels of oil equivalent and a daily production average of 14,349 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
DNO focuses heavily on operations in the Kurdish north of Iraq. Production from its Tawke field last year averaged 105,500 barrels of oil per day. Peshkabir, which started production in the middle of last year, added another 3,600 bpd.
Annual revenues for DNO climbed 72 percent from 2016 to $347 million. For 2018, the company said it aims to increase its spending in the Kurdish north of Iraq by more than 50 percent to $250 million.
In explaining its move on Faroe, DNO said it was supporting the company’s growth strategy that’s focused on the North Sea. When asked, DNO offered no comment on whether or not the acquisitions represented a shift in focus away from Iraq.
Faroe had no comment on the DNO share acquisitions. The company on Wednesday was part of a group announcing a “significant” natural gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.