CATS Management, part of Antin Infrastructure Partners, is to buy Premier Oil's stake in the Esmond Transportation System (ETS) pipeline in the UK North Sea.
The ETS pipeline was constructed in order to transport gas from Esmond Area fields to the Bacton gas terminal on the North Sea Coast in North Norfolk. The pipeline is currently operated by Perenco UK as operator of the Trent and Tyne fields, and is used as the export route for the Cygnus gas field recently brought on stream by ENGIE.
Premier acquired the ETS pipeline as part of its $120 million acquisition of E.ON UK in 2016, but doesn't serve any fields owned by Premier.
The deal will see Premier paid up to US$31.6 million (£23.6 million) for its 30% interest in ETS, with $28.1 million of that on completion, subject to conditions, plus up to £2.6 million ($3.5 million) based on certain milestones related to any future development of the Pegasus field.
The effective date of the sale is 1 January 2017. Premier expects the sale to complete in 1H 2018.
Premier's CEO Tony Durrant said: “The sale of the ETS pipeline interest is another step in realising value from the E.ON UK portfolio acquired by Premier for $120 million in 2016. The ETS pipeline does not serve any fields owned by Premier and is therefore non-core to the group.”