Eni acquires Norwegian petroleum
21 Nov 2002
Eni has signed an agreement to acquire the Finnish oil company Fortum Petroleum for $420 million.
Fortum Petroleum, based in Lysaker, near Oslo, carries out activities in the Norwegian North Sea where it has stakes in fields such as Asgard, Brage and Heidrun. It also holds interests in the field of Mikkel, which is under development, and Goliath, which is still to be developed.
In addition, it has stakes in important gas transmission infrastructures that connect the fields to the Norwegian and German coast.
At the end of 2001, Fortum had reserves of approximately 210 million barrels of oil equivalent of which half is natural gas. In the first half of 2002, its daily production was greater than 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent. In 2003, production is expected to exceed 40,000 barrels per day.
In 2001 Fortum Petroleum posted revenues of $295 million and earnings before taxes were $92 million.
'The acquisition of Fortum Petroleum strengthens Eni's presence in Norway where our production will rise by more than 40% in 2003,' said Mr. Vittorio Mincato, Chief Executive Officer of Eni.
The acquisition will be submitted for approval to the relevant Antitrust Authorities and the Norwegian Authorities. The company expects the deal to be finalised in the first quarter of 2003.
