JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration has signed an agreement with HiTecVision-funded NEO Energy for the sale of 100% share of its subsidiary JX Nippon Exploration and Production (UK) Ltd. for $1.66 billion.
“This transaction is part of our ongoing global portfolio management strategy to strengthen our upstream portfolio by selling projects that are no longer critical to our business,” said Hiroshi Hosoi, president and chief executive of JX. “In line with this strategy, we have decided to sell our UK business to NEO which is an emerging upstream company.”
JX is part of the ENEOS Group and is committed to the group's “Long-Term Vision for 2040,” which includes contributing to the development of a low-carbon society. In line with this vision, the company has been investing in various sustainable projects in Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, and the US, including the Petra Nova CCUS project in Texas.
The purchase includes nonoperated interests in multiple producing fields and associated infrastructure in the UK North Sea including a 20% interest in the Equinor-led Mariner field and an 18% interest in the TotalEnergies-operated Culzean field. The transaction excludes JX UK’s interests in the Andrew Area.
NEO, founded 2 years ago, has been actively acquiring assets in the the North Sea. Earlier this year, the company agreed to purchase UK assets from ExxonMobil. The $1 billion deal announced in February included the acquisition of 21 assets, including 14 fields and several infrastructure positions highlighted by the Gannet cluster, Franklin, and Elgin fields and various properties in the Shearwater area.
Less than a month later, NEO agreed to purchased Zennor Petroleum for up to $625 million. That deal included North Sea assets centered around the strategic Britannia and ETAP production hubs.
