Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Equinor reportedly eyeing partial sale of contoversial Rosebank oilfield

The North Sea firm is understood to be keen to let go of one-quarter of its 80% share.

Floating production storage and offloading vessel Petrojarl Knarr.
Floating production storage and offloading vessel Petrojarl Knarr, which will be used on Rosebank. Image: Petrojarl/Teekay

Norwegian energy giant Equinor is believed to be looking to sell a 20% stake in the controversial Rosebank oilfield west of Shetland.

The state-backed firm currently owns 80% of the asset, with Ithaca Energy holding the remaining 20%.

According to news agency Reuters, a 20% share in the project could fetch more than £1.2 billion.

UK’s largest untapped oilfield

Rosebank is the UK’s largest untapped oilfield. Both it and the nearby Cambo oilfield, operated by Ithaca, have in recent years become battlegrounds for climate change protestors calling for a complete halt to oil and gas production in the UK North Sea.

UK-based supermajor Shell sold its 30% share in Cambo to operator Ithaca this year.

Yvonne Telford, research director at the Westwood Energy consultancy, said: “The key difference between Rosebank and Cambo is that Rosebank has been sanctioned for development by regulatory authorities and partners.

“A buyer will have more certainty on the progression and economics of the project.”

Rosebank investors need deep pockets

But they will also need to be well funded for an estimated £800 million-plus capital investment in the project, she added.

David Moseley, vice-president of operations for Europe at Welligence Energy Analytics, is predicting an even higher spend for any buyer.

Mr Moseley said: “Assuming a 20% stake, a potential buyer would have total outlays of over US$2 billion (more than £1.6bn) before first oil.

“It is more than likely that a significant portion of the rumoured $1.5bn (£1.2bn) price tag will be contingent on one or multiple potential trigger points, with oil and gas prices and first oil from the project arguably two of the most likely.”

A protest against the Rosebank field approval.
A protest against Rosebank field approval. Image: Fossil Free London

Rosebank received a green light from the UK regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority, in September.

At the time it was said Equinor and Ithaca would together invest about £3.1bn in the project, which is targeting 300 million barrels of oil  in two phases.

The development is expected support around 1,600 jobs at the height of construction and 450 UK roles during the lifetime of the field.

Rosebank could be producing through to 2051, according to Equinor, which declined to comment on the mooted stake sale .

Decision to sell share ‘not surprising’

Ms Telford said it was “not surprising” Equinor may be seeking to divest in Rosebank.

She added: “We estimate the net capital outlay… in addition to its net costs for other UK assets will exceed its produced UK revenue stream in 2025 and 2026.

 

“Although this is manageable for a company like Equinor, a reduction in the Rosebank stake would lower both its costs and risk exposure.”

Equinor acquired US major Chevron’s 40% working interest in Rosebank in 2018.

It took on a further 40% share from Suncor earlier this year as part of a £709m deal.

Conversation