Italy's oil and gas giant Eni on Wednesday announced the merger of its subsidiary Eni Norge with Point Resources to create Var Energi, an independent market leader in hydrocarbon exploration and production in Norway.
"The creation of Var Energi is a major step forward in the strategy to reinforce Eni’s presence in OECD countries with further upstream potential," said Eni's statement.
Owned 69.6% by Eni and 30.4% by private equity investor HitecVision, Var Energi has about 800 employees and 17 oil and gas fields with a wide geographical coverage, from the Barents Sea to the North Sea, the statement said.
Production in 2018 is estimated at 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and the company has reserves and resources of more than 1,250 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe).
Production from existing fields is expected to reach 250,000 boepd by 2023.
Health and safety performance, project delivery and production efficiency will be priority areas for Var Energi management, led by chief executive Kristin F. Kragseth and chairman Philip D. Hemmens, according to the statement.
