Centrica buys $1.6bn of gas assets from Statoil

Statoil plans to focus on the development of the Aldous discovery, which along the Avaldsnes deposit may prove to be the third-largest off Norway. In addition to Norway, the company has recently sold assets in Brazil and Canada to share costs and project risks.

The transaction involves sale of Statoil stakes in the Kvitebjorn, Heimdal, Valemon, Skrine-Byggve, Fulla, Frigg-Gamma- Delta, Vale and Rind fields.

Centrica has “one of the fastest growing exploration and production businesses on the Norwegian continental shelf,” Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive Officer at the UK’s second largest gas producer, said in the statement. “Much of the gas acquired through this transaction will also come to the UK market.”

The new long-term gas sale agreement is an extension of the contract between the two partners, which expires in 2015, Statoil said.

Centrica shares were down 0.07% to 288.7 at 1111GMT.

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