Ithaca Energy, the Canadian independent oil and gas company with exploration and development assets in the UK North Sea, is acquiring the Beatrice field from Talisman.
Beatrice was the first field to be developed in the Moray Firth area, and can be seen from the land.
Ithaca, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Ithaca Energy (UK), is paying £10m. The purchase, effective from January 1, is subject to the usual government and third-party consents and due diligence.
Beatrice currently produces approximately 1800 barrels of oil per day (bopd). It was discovered by Mesa Petroleum in 1979 and has produced more than 165 million barrels of oil out of an estimated 495 million barrels in place.
Talisman retains the obligation for decommissioning.
Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) will be appointed as duty holder and operator, an extension of its current role as engineering contractor.
The acquisition of the Beatrice field provides Ithaca with its first oil production and control of the producing infrastructure in the area.
The Inner Moray Firth area became core for the company with the successful drilling of the 90%-owned Jacky oil discovery in May of this year.
Ithaca has a 100% interest in a 114,500-acre licence surrounding the Beatrice field, on which the company has identified several exploration prospects. The first is scheduled to be drilled before the end of this year.
The transaction includes the Alpha, Bravo and Charlie platforms, operatorship of the Nigg onshore storage and transhipment terminal and a 16-inch pipeline from Alpha to the Nigg facility.
The pipeline was substantially replaced in 2001 and has the capacity for more than 60,000 barrels per day.
The Bravo platform is currently shut-in but it is Ithaca's intention to resume its operations while connecting Jacky to the Alpha platform.
Bravo was producing approximately 800 bopd prior to being shut-in.
"We see this transaction as the best way forward for the Beatrice field," said Nick Walker, vice-president of Talisman Energy (UK). "When we acquired the Beatrice field in 1997, the previous operator projected an end of field life in 1998.
"We have invested significantly in the Beatrice assets and have extended field life by over 10 years. This agreement should ensure the field life is extended still further."
The sale to Ithaca does not include Talisman's interest in the Beatrice Wind Farm Demonstrator Project, a joint venture between Talisman and Scottish & Southern Energy.
The project, which will provide data on the viability of a commercial deepwater offshore wind farm, will continue to provide power for the Beatrice platform.
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