TOTAL S.A. TOT has entered in an agreement with Chevron Corporation CVX to acquire all the share capital of its arm Chevron Denmark Inc., which holds 12% interest in the Danish Underground Consortium (“DUC”), 12% interest in Licence 8/06, and 7.5% interest in the Tyra West pipeline.
The deal is subject to approvals from other existing partners of DUC and from the relevant authorities. Other partners of the consortium are Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A, having 36.8% interest and Nordsofonden (20%, owned by the Danish State).
Post completion of the transfer of interest TOTAL will be the holding 43.2% interest in DUC, up from its existing share of 31.2%. Acquisition of interest will further increase TOTAL’s presence in the Danish Shelf and allow it to operate a consortium that controls majority of Danish oil and gas production.
TOTAL’s Expansion Through Acquisition
TOTAL is the largest oil operator in Denmark and has expanded its operation in Denmark through the acquisition of Maersk Oil, which held 31.2% interest in the DUC. The decision to acquire Chevron arm will help it to control 43.2% of DUC, which manages 85% of the oil and 97% gas exports of Denmark.
TOTAL and its DUC partners have agreed to invest nearly $3.27 billion ($21 billion DKK) to develop the Tyra Gas field, which will be able to produce 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) from 2022.
TOTAL’s Long-Term Goal
TOTAL is aiming to increase production by an average of 6–7% per year between 2017 and 2020. The improvement will be primarily due to the commencement of major organic projects that are expected to add 700 thousand barrels of oil equivalents per day, resulting in 5% average growth in production from 2017 to 2022.
Moreover, the strategic acquisitions made by TOTAL across the globe will also help it expand footprint globally. During the first half of 2018, the company acquired assets worth $4,114 million, comprising the buyout of interest in deep-water offshore fields in Lara and Lapa in Brazil, two new 40-year concessions in offshore Abu Dhabi, the acquisition of 16.3% interest in Waha field in Libya and offshore assets from Cobalt in the Gulf of Mexico.
Development of its asset portfolio through organic and inorganic means has resulted in the creation of strong production growth profiles.
Zacks Rank and A Key Pick
TOTAL currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the same industry is Premier Oil PLC PMOIY, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Earnings estimates of Premier Oil have moved up 38.1% to 29 cents in the past 60 days.
Shares of both Premier Oil and TOTAL have outperformed the broader industry’s growth in a year’s time.
Overview
In the North Sea region, development of oil and gas capital projects took a hit post the drop in oil prices in 2014. At present, we notice a revival in oil prices. Also, per a report by Financial Times, energy companies are planning to investment more than $6.5 billion (£5 Billion) in this region in 2018.
With oil prices gradually moving north, TOTAL’s decision to increase its presence in North Sea region is well timed, which will allow the company to benefit from this mature oil and gas basin.
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