Aker BP acquires stakes in two Norwegian Continental Shelf discoveries

Aker BP has agreed to two separate deals that add operated interests next to fields it already runs on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The company will acquire Apache's stake in the cross-border Losgann/Froskelår discovery in the North Sea, and it will take back operatorship of the Slagugle area in the Norwegian Sea from ConocoPhillips.

Losgann/Froskelår

Aker BP has signed an agreement with Apache to acquire Apache's operated interest in the UK part of the Losgann discovery. Losgann and the Froskelår discovery on the Norwegian side form a single accumulation that straddles the UK-Norway median line, and the find has not yet been developed. By buying Apache's stake, Aker BP expects to hold operatorship on both sides of the accumulation once it obtains the required consents. The company sees the discovery as a possible subsea tie-back to the Alvheim area. A tie-back connects a new discovery's wells to processing facilities that already exist nearby.

CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik said "Losgann and Froskelår are two names for the same discovery," and that bringing ownership, operatorship and development responsibility together improves the odds of moving the project forward.

Slagugle

Aker BP has also signed an agreement with ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS to acquire operatorship and a 51 percent working interest in the Slagugle area, located around 20 kilometers north of the Heidrun field and about 270 kilometers north of Kristiansund. Once the deal closes, ConocoPhillips will hold a 29 percent non-operated interest and INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS will hold the remaining 20 percent. The move brings Aker BP back into a licence it last held seven years ago.

The Slagugle area covers licences PL891, PL891B and PL891C, the first of which was awarded in Norway's APA licensing round in 2016. Between 2020 and 2025, ConocoPhillips and its partners drilled one discovery well and two appraisal wells, proving around 50 million barrels of gross recoverable oil at the main Slagugle structure and partly maturing a subsea development concept. The agreement includes plans for more exploration in the licence, aimed at growing the resource base ahead of a development decision.

Hersvik said "the Slagugle area is located close to our Skarv field," and that Aker BP sees potential to add resources there through further exploration.

Both transactions still need approval from the relevant authorities and other customary completion conditions.