Largest UK Listed Independent Oil Co Born

Harbour Energy plc has revealed that its ordinary share capital has been admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s main market.

The development follows the completion of the all-share merger of Chrysaor Holdings Ltd and Premier Oil plc, from which Harbour Energy was formed. The combined business is a global independent oil and gas company, and the largest UK listed independent oil and gas company, according to its website, which shows that the entity produces over 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the North Sea and South East Asia.  

Harbour Energy is said to have a broad set of international growth opportunities, a strong balance sheet, and the financial flexibility to fund both further growth and shareholder returns. The business notes that it is committed to producing oil and gas responsibly to help meet the world’s energy needs and that the group has a lower carbon intensity than the average UK oil and gas producer, as well as a commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

Harbour Energy is governed by a board comprising 11 directors, eight of which are non-executive directors and three of which are executive directors. Blair Thomas is the chairman of the group, with Linda Z. Cook chief executive officer, and Phil Kirk president and chief executive officer of Europe. Alexander Krane will be appointed chief financial officer on April 15. A total of 1,500 people are employed by Harbour Energy worldwide, according to the company’s website.

“This is a landmark day for Harbour Energy and all of those involved with Premier and Chrysaor,” Linda Z Cook said in a company statement published on April 1.

“As the largest UK listed independent oil and gas company, Harbour offers a unique opportunity for investors, bringing together two complementary portfolios with a material North Sea foundation, an attractive global footprint and a strong balance sheet,” Cook added in the statement.

“I would like to thank everyone in both Premier and Chrysaor for their tremendous efforts in completing the transaction. Today, as we start our future as Harbour Energy, we look forward to realizing the potential of our new company for all of our stakeholders,” Cook went on to say.

Premier Oil was established in in 1934, initially to explore for oil and gas in Trinidad. Chrysaor was founded in 2007 and grew rapidly through a series of acquisitions.

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