Norwegian oil and gas firm Equinor has completed the divestment of its interests in the Bakken field in North Dakota and Montana to Grayson Mill Energy for $900m.
The transaction covers all Equinor’s operated and non-operated acreage, totalling 242,000 net acres, and associated midstream assets in the Bakken. Entitlement production from these assets in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 48,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
In parallel with this transaction, Equinor Marketing and Trading will enter into a term purchase agreement for crude offtake with Grayson Mill Energy.
“Equinor is optimizing its oil and gas portfolio to strengthen profitability and make it more robust for the future. By divesting our Bakken position, we are realizing proceeds that can be deployed towards more competitive assets in our portfolio, enabling us to deliver increased value creation for our shareholders,” said Anders Opedal, Equinor president and CEO.
Equinor holds unconventional oil and gas operated and non-operated positions in the Bakken (North Dakota) and Appalachian Basins (Ohio and Pennsylvania), and has a large portfolio of offshore assets in the US Gulf of Mexico. It is also pursuing the development of offshore wind projects on the east coast of the United States.
Equinor will continue to operate the assets up to four months after closing as part of a transition service agreement with Grayson Mill Energy. Nearly all field staff and many of those in the support teams working on the Bakken assets will transfer to Grayson Mill Energy upon the conclusion of their transition duties within Equinor.
Equinor Marketing and Trading will purchase crude offtake from the Bakken assets through a separate long-term purchase agreement with Grayson Mill Energy. For more information visit: www.equinor.com
