Norwegian company Equinor announced on Thursday that Shell and Equinor have formed a joint venture to jointly extract oil and gas from the British part of the North Sea. The Norwegians and the British were to hold 50 percent of the shares in the new company.
According to the announcement, the merger of Equinora's British unit and Shell's offshore oil and gas conglomerate, which is managed by London, will create the largest mining company in the North Sea.
The release indicates that the company should focus on investing in existing mines and active mining platforms. The goal is to extend their life and activity. The new entity will also acquire the rights to produce gas and oil in 12 fields in the North Sea, as well as exploration licenses in the British part of the shelf. After the merger, the company's daily production of new devices is expected to reach at least 140,000. cubic meter called oil equivalent.
“We expect domestically produced oil and gas to play an important role in the future of the UK's energy system,” Zoe Yuzhnovich, director of gas and mining integration at Shell, said in a statement.
A new mining company in 2025
The joint venture agreement between Shell and Equinor will come into force on 1 January 2025 and the shareholders aim to obtain all necessary consents and licenses by the end of next year. Until then, the name under which the newly established company will operate will be determined.
Shell is the fourth largest petrochemical company in the world. In 2023, its turnover exceeded 386 billion dollars. It operates in 70 countries and has a global retail network of over 47,000. gas stations.
Equinor was known as Statoil until 2019. This company, which is mainly owned by the Norwegian state, supplies more than 2 billion tons of oil equivalent per day. Its annual turnover in 2023 exceeded 107 billion dollars.
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