Centrica gobbles up North Sea assets

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LONDON, May 1 (UPI) -- British energy company Centrica announced it added millions of barrels of annual oil production capacity to its portfolio through North Sea acquisitions.

Centrica said it acquired North Sea assets from Norwegian energy company Statoil and U.S. supermajor Conoco Phillips. The deal was valued at around $1.7 billion and could add at least 150 million barrels of oil equivalent to Centrica's holdings in the North Sea.

Centrica said that both transactions could increase its reserves by roughly 40 percent and could increase production by more than 30 percent.

Oystein Michelsen, a vice president for development and production at Statoil, said the divestment gave his company the opportunity to focus on its core assets.

"This strategic move strengthens our capacity to further focus on value-creating growth on the Norwegian continental shelf, one of the world's most attractive oil and gas regions where recent discoveries demonstrate the substantial organic growth potential," Michelsen said.

Conoco had no immediate public comment on the transaction.