More Drones Spotted Over Norwegian Oil Infrastructure

By Alex Kimani - Oct 19, 2022,

Norway's domestic security agency has opened an investigation into new drone sightings near key infrastructure sites just hours after Bergen Airport, which is near Norway’s main naval base, briefly closed due to drone sightings, the Associated Press reports. 

“There can also be observations that could be other phenomena, for instance weather. We are sure that there is at least one,” AP cited Bergen police spokesman Ørjan Djuvik as saying.

According to deputy chief of the Norwegian Police Security Service Hedvig Moe, numerous drone sightings have been reported in recent months near offshore oil and gas platforms and other Norwegian infrastructure.

“We believe (the drone flights are) carried out in a way that makes it difficult to find out who is really behind it,” although Norwegian authorities suspect Russian involvement in operating unmanned aerial vehicles that “can be used for espionage or simply to create fear. Russia simply has more to gain and less to lose by conducting intelligence activities in Norway now compared to the situation before the war. It is simply because Russia is in a pressed situation as a result of the war (in Ukraine) and is isolated by sanctions. We are in a tense security-political situation, and at the same time a complex and unclear threat picture that can change in a relatively short time,” Moe was quoted as saying.

Seven Russian citizens have been detained over the past few weeks for flying drones or taking photographs of sensitive sites in Norway. 

Notably, on Wednesday, a 47-year-old man with dual Russian and British citizenship was jailed for two weeks on suspicion of flying drones on Norway’s Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The man has been accused of breaching sanctions which came into force after Russia went to war against Ukraine. Aircraft operated by Russian companies or citizens are prohibited “to land on, take off from or fly over Norwegian territory” under Norwegian law, which often is coordinated with the European Union. 

Airport operator Avinor has revealed that 50 possible drone observations have been reported at Norway's civilian airports so far this year, nearly triple the 17 sightings recorded in 2021.

Norway’s Equinor Considers Buying Chinese North Sea Oilfields

By Alex Kimani - Oct 17, 2022

Reuters reported on Monday that Norway's Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR)is considering buying oilfields in the British North Sea from China's CNOOC Ltd (OTCPK: CEOHF), including a significant stake in the huge Buzzard oilfield in a deal valued at between 20 billion and 30 billion Norwegian crowns ($1.9 billion-$2.8 billion). 

The deal would rank among the largest in years on the U.K. continental shelf. 

According to the Norwegian newspaper DN, the deal might be finalized as early as the end of the current year.

The assets were originally obtained in 2013 from Canadian oil producer Nexen. Equinor’s assets also come with so-called tax losses, meaning the owner of the fields can offset past losses against future tax bills

"As a matter of principle, we never comment on rumors and speculation," an Equinor spokesperson told Reuters when quizzed about the deal. CNOOC has also declined to comment.

In March, Reuters, citing four sources, reported CNOOC had hired Bank of America to start preparing a formal sale of its North Sea assets, potentially raising more than $3 billion.

Back in the United States, dealmaking is slowly starting to recover, with Enverus noting that mergers and acquisitions picked up pace to $16 billion in Q3, the most this year. 

In its quarterly report, Enverus notes that the 3rd quarter was the most active quarter in oil and gas so far this year. Still, deal value in the first nine months only totaled $36 billion, significantly less than the $56 billion recorded in the same period last year.

“Companies are using the cash generated by high commodity prices to pay down debt and reward shareholders rather than seeking out acquisitions. Investors still seem skeptical of public company M&A and are holding management to high standards on deals. Investors want acquisitions priced favorably relative to a buyer’s stock on key return metrics like free cash flow yield to give an immediate uplift to dividends and share buybacks,” Andrew Dittmar, director of Enverus, told Reuters.