TotalEnergies has agreed to acquire Spain-based Cepsa's upstream oil assets in the UAE for an undisclosed sum.
The assets consist of a 20pc interest in the Satah-al-Razboot (Sarb) and Umm Lulu offshore fields, as well as a 12.8pc indirect stake in the four-field offshore Mubarraz concession through the acquisition of Cepsa's 20pc stake in Cosmo Abu Dhabi, a joint-venture with Japan's Cosmo Energy.
Cepsa has not disclosed its share of production from the Sarb and Umm Lulu fields in 2022. But OMV, which also holds a 20pc stake in the fields, reported working interest crude output of 42,000 b/d last year, indicating total production of 210,000 b/d. Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc holds the remaining 60pc stake. Overall production from the fields in the Mubarraz concession stood at around 40,000 b/d as of 2020.
While Cepsa, which itself is owned by Abu Dhabi state-owned investment vehicle Mubadala, farmed in to the Mubarraz concession around eight years ago, its involvement at Sarb and Umm Lulu has barely lasted four years. Cepsa's chief executive Maarten Wetselaar said the decision to sell is part of a wider strategic shift to "migrate its business into new sustainable areas such a green hydrogen or biofuels".
This mirrors steps taken in recent years by other European oil companies, including Spain's Repsol and Portugal's Galp, to discard some of their hydrocarbon assets to help finance new ventures in alternative, lower-carbon energies.
For its part, TotalEnergies said the acquisition of Cepsa's stakes in Sarb and Umm Lulu is "fully aligned" with its strategy of focusing on "low-cost, low-emission assets". The Mideast Gulf region has an important role in the company's current portfolio and its growth plans going forward. TotalEnergies was the top foreign oil producer in the Middle East and northern Africa region in 2022, netting a record 552,000 b/d, as well as 739mn ft³/d (7.6bn m³/yr) in net gas output.
