Shell exits Irish upstream

Royal Dutch Shell announced on Wednesday that it would sell its upstream assets in Ireland for some USD 1.23 billion.

A subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will purchase Shell’s 45% stake in the Corrib gas venture for an initial sum of USD 947 million and additional payments of up to USD 285 million in 2018-2025, contingent on prices and production. Vermilion Energy will be the new operator of the project, which came on stream in late 2015 after numerous delays that have cost Shell about USD 3.28 billion.

The assets in question produced about 27,000 net boepd last year.

Shell will incur an impairment charge of about USD 350 million with the sale, which will be booked in Q2 2017, the company added in a statement.

“This transaction … demonstrates the strong momentum behind our three-year USD 30 billion divestment programme,” said Andy Brown, Shell’s upstream director.

“At the half-way point, we have now announced deals valued at more than USD 20 billion.”