Talos Energy and an affiliate of Ridgewood Energy Corporation have agreed to acquire Shell's interests in the Na Kika platform and the Coulomb field in the Gulf of America in a deal valued at $1.7 billion.
Under the agreement, Talos will acquire a 50% working interest and operatorship in the Shell-owned Coulomb field and a 25% non-operated working interest in the BP-operated Na Kika platform and its associated Kepler, Ariel, Fourier and Herschel fields.
Shell said it is selling its 50% non-operated working interest in Na Kika and its 100%-owned Coulomb tieback.
The Na Kika interests are subject to BP's 30-day preferential purchase right. If exercised, Talos said it would acquire only the 50% working interest and operatorship in the Coulomb field.
Talos noted the transaction carries cash consideration of $850 million net to the company, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Based on estimated interim cash flow from the assets since the July 1, 2025 effective date, Talos expects its final net cash consideration to be approximately $450 million to $500 million.
The acquisition will add approximately 23 million barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves and 10 million barrels of probable reserves, net to Talos, while production attributable to the acquired interests averaged approximately 16,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter of 2026, around 77% of which was oil.
The assets include a 50% upside sharing agreement through the end of 2027, subject to commodity price thresholds and other conditions. Shell said it will also receive uncapped upside-linked payments through 2027 and overriding royalty interests on production from new Na Kika tiebacks, subject to conditions.
"We are pleased to announce the acquisition of these high-quality deepwater assets directly aligned with Pillar Two of our strategy. The bolt-on is highly accretive, materially enhances free cash flow, and includes Infrastructure-Led Exploration opportunities where our field life extension track record can unlock value beyond current reserves.
“We also see a clear pathway for operated development activity to compete for capital beginning in 2027, further supporting long-term value creation as we continue to advance our strategy to build a long-lived, scaled portfolio and become the leading pure-play offshore E&P," said Paul Goodfellow, Talos President and Chief Executive Officer.
"The Gulf of America is one of our highest-value basins, and we are actively shaping our portfolio to ensure our Upstream business continues to be resilient and increasingly competitive. We remain focused on sustaining our material liquids production into the next decade,” added Peter Costello, Shell's Upstream President.
Talos said it expects to finance the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand and debt and has secured $150 million of incremental commitments from its existing lenders, increasing its borrowing base to $850 million from $700 million upon closing.
According to Shell, the transaction includes the buyers assuming certain decommissioning obligations and providing security for those obligations, while Shell Trading US Company will retain rights to offtake from Na Kika and Coulomb through negotiated agreements with the buyers.
The transaction has an effective date of July 1, 2025, and is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
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