A portfolio review has been completed and a decision has been taken to initiate the process of marketing Chevron’s 19.4 percent non-operated working interest in the Clair Field and associated assets in the UK North Sea.
That’s what a Chevron spokesperson told Rigzone, adding that this includes various working interests in the Sullom Voe Terminal, the Ninian Pipeline, and the SIRGE Pipeline. The process is expected to take multiple months and may or may not result in a sale, the spokesperson told Rigzone.
“As part of Chevron’s focus on maintaining capital discipline in both traditional and new energies, we regularly review our global portfolio to assess whether assets are strategic and competitive for future capital,” the spokesperson said.
The Chevron spokesperson highlighted that Chevron’s decision is not related to the UK’s political environment, recent announcements relating to the UK Windfall Tax, concerns around business performance, or the competitiveness of the UK basin.
“The announcement relates to assessing a global portfolio that provides best shareholder return,” the spokesperson said.
In a statement posted on its website back in March, industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) said a Conservative party budget announcement extending the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers was a disappointing blow to the industry which risks jobs, investment, and economic growth.
Earlier this year, OEUK warned in a statement posted on its site that 42,000 jobs and GBP 26 billion ($32.9 billion) of economic value would be wiped out under new Labour proposals to extend the windfall tax on UK oil and gas producers.
Chevron's presence in the UK North Sea spans more than 55 years, the company states on its website, adding that its business interests “generate economic impacts at multiple levels across the UK economy and in many different ways, from capital investments, taxes, jobs, production and technology development, to supporting a world class supply chain and the global procurement of UK goods and services”.
Chevron outlines on its site that its upstream activities in the UK comprise a 19.4 percent non-operated working interest in the Clair Field and associated assets. This interest is held through the company’s subsidiary Chevron Britain Limited, the site shows.
The Clair field lies 47 miles west of the Shetland Islands in the North Sea and extends over an area of 85 square miles in water depths of approximately 460 feet, the site states. Discovered in 1977, across Blocks 206/7a, 206/8, 206/9, 206/12 and 206/13a. Clair is one of the UK’s largest hydrocarbon resources, it adds, noting that oil and gas are exported via pipelines to the Sullom Voe Terminal on the Shetland Islands.
In addition to its Clair Field assets, Chevron has several other interests and operations in the UK, according to its site.
This includes its UK Global Technology Centre (GTC), which was established in 2007. This is described on the site as a strategic extension of Chevron’s Energy Technology Company and complements Chevron’s existing technology facilities in Houston and Richmond in the United States and Perth, Australia.
“It provides a hub of technical excellence that supports Chevron’s global portfolio of projects,” the site states.
Chevron has also located the headquarters for three of its major regional organizations in the UK, the site points out. From its London offices, the company operates its exploration and production activities for Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East, European lubricants sales and marketing, and natural gas trading, according to the site.
London is also the regional headquarters for Chevron’s Finished Lubricants operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and a regional hub for the Chevron Marine Lubricants business providing support to marine lubricant activities globally, the site shows.
Chevron’s London office is home to one of the company’s four global trading floors and it’s also one of shipping’s key regional offices, the site outlines. Chevron shipping also opened a marine learning and development center in Glasgow, Scotland, the site highlights.
The company notes on the site that its downstream business in the UK is conducted through its subsidiary Chevron Products UK Limited.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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