Germany-based BASF said it agreed to the sale of its North Sea oil and gas assets to MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas in a $375 million deal, Bloomberg reported. Citing a statement from the world's largest chemical manufacturer, the report said MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas will be acquiring 14 licenses from Wintershall, the oil and gas subsidiary of BASF.
A chemical company, BASF's portfolio includes chemicals, plastics, performance products, crop protection products, oil and gas. Last year, it posted sales of €72.1 billion. Its subsidiary, Wintershall Holding, is based in Kassel, Germany. It has actively explored and produced crude oil and natural gas for more than 80 years. Meanwhile, MOL Group is a Budapest, Hungary-based international oil and gas firm. It has production plants in seven countries and exploration assets in 12 countries.
The 14 licenses included in the deal are located in the UK continental shelf, with the deal set to be completed in the first quarter of next year. It will be financially retroactive to January 1, 2013 and the purchase price would be subject to value adjustments when the deal closes, the report said.
In the statement, Wintershall Chief Executive Officer Rainer Seele said, "We are well on track in implementing our strategy of growth at the source. With the divestment of non-operated assets, we can concentrate on strengthening our competencies in exploration, field development and production activities on own-operated assets in the North Sea."
The report said the divestment follows asset swaps last year with OAO Gazprom of Russia and Norway's Statoil ASA. The deals enabled BASF to get stakes in fields in Siberia and the North Sea where it will operate.
According to BASF, an agreement to jointly pursue exploration and production opportunities in the Middle East is included in its most recent deal with MOL, the report said.
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