Oil firm Energean sizes up bidders for a £162m North Sea sell-off

Oil and gas company Energean is sizing up bidders for a $200million (£162million) portfolio of assets as it focuses on becoming the biggest gas producer in the eastern Mediterranean.

The FTSE 250 firm’s chief executive Mathios Rigas has received about a dozen unsolicited expressions of interest for 19 oil and gas assets in the UK North Sea and offshore Norway – including a 25 per cent stake in the Chinese-owned Glengorm gas field near Aberdeen.

Energy analyst Kevin Swann, of Wood Mackenzie, says private equity-backed firms which could be in the running include Omani-supported Petrogas Neo, North European player Chrysaor, and Neptune Energy, founded by former Centrica chief Sam Laidlaw.

Rigas, who owns around 10 per cent of Energean, is hoping for a quick sale. He said: ‘We are screening buyers who know the assets very well and can move quickly.

‘We don’t want to spend months on due diligence.’

Energean listed in London last spring. Its shares have more than doubled in price – soaring from £4.55 to £9.37.

Source: Daily Mail