United Oil & Gas to sell North Sea licences for up to £3.2m

Move comes following strategic review of business

United Oil & Gas said it has agreed to sell its two UK North Sea licences to Quattro Energy for up to £3.2 million.

The company said it had signed non-binding heads of terms on the agreement to sell UK Central North Sea Licences P2480 and P2519. The sale comes following a strategic review of the company’s portfolio and will see United exit activities in the North Sea region.

Under the deal, an initial payment of £2 million would be due at the transaction’s completion. A further £1.2 million would be paid on field development plan approval.

United was awarded licence P2480 in August 2019 and licence P2519, which includes the Maria Discovery, in December 2020, and holds a 100 per cent equity interest in each.

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This deal is expected to be completed by the end of September. The proceeds will help the company to grow its low-cost production business in Egypt and the greater Mediterranean area.

"With this transaction, we continue to demonstrate our ability to actively manage our portfolio of assets to unlock significant return in value for our shareholders in a short period of time. In line with our stated strategy, the proceeds of this transaction will further strengthen our balance sheet to support the growth of the company," said Brian Larkin, chief executive of United Oil and Gas.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist