A major North Sea oil and gas deal between Shell, Exxon Mobil and Viaro Energy has been called off.
Shell said the $500million deal, covering assets producing around 5% of UK gas output, was abandoned because conditions required to complete the transaction “were not met”. Viaro said the decision to walk-away was "mutually agreed"
The sale, agreed in July 2024, included 11 gasfields, an exploration project and the Bacton terminal in Norfolk, described by Shell as a site of “strategic national importance”.
Shell will continue to operate the portfolio, one of the largest and longest-producing in the North Sea.
The cancellation follows scrutiny by the North Sea Transition Authority, which said approval was delayed while it was “waiting to receive the additional information requested from the purchasing party in order to make a decision”.
Viaro is already licensed to operate in the North Sea and produces about 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day as well as working interests in approximately 60 North Sea fields. It has been the most prolific buyer of UK oil and gas assets over the past five years.
A spokesman for Francesco Mazzagatti, chief executive of Viaro, told The Times that the Shell deal had been scrapped despite being “fully-funded”.
He said: “The parties have worked hard and in close alignment to try and complete this transaction over many months, but despite this being a fully-funded opportunity, the completion conditions were not met as commercial and market conditions evolved and we mutually agreed not to proceed."
A Shell spokesman said “completion conditions were not met as commercial and market conditions evolved”.