UKCS still attracting buyers

Healthy appetite remains despite an evolving oil and gas landscape

It is perhaps a little surprising, with Cop26 and Shell’s decision to put the West of Shetland (WoS) Cambo oil project on hold fresh in our memories, to consider that there remains strong appetite from a select group of buyers to acquire assets on the UK continental shelf (UKCS). Last year saw a flurry of transactional activity, with several large deals announced. Neo Energy, financed by Norwegian private equity (PE) firm Hitec Vision, was particularly active, acquiring assets from ExxonMobil, Japan’s JX Nippon and fellow PE-backed producer Zennor Petroleum. North Sea-focused independents Ithaca Energy, Enquest and Waldorf Production also picked up notable assets. The assumption of maintaine