AUGUST 22, 2017 / 2:13 PM
LONDON (Reuters) – French oil major Total (TOTF.PA) has overtaken rival Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to become the second-largest producer in the North Sea with its acquisition of Maersk’s (MAERSKb.CO) Norwegian and UK producing assets.
The $7.45 billion deal by Total was welcomed by the market, with analysts saying it helped the French company rebalance its portfolio by adding assets in developed countries after going for projects in riskier places such as Iran and Russia.
The deal boosts the share of eight global oil majors in the North Sea – Statoil, Total, Shell, Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Conoco (COP.N), ENI <ENI.MI, BP (BP.L) and Chevron (CVX.N) – to back above three quarters of total output.
For graphic on Total-Maersk deal boosts majors’ share in the North Sea click reut.rs/2g1Wzuq
Several oil majors have been actively looking to divest fields in the North Sea – one of the most mature global oil provinces where future developments will be complicated by high decommissioning costs of old infrastructure.
Some assets have been bought by private equity firms which have expanded significantly in the region, with companies such as Chrysaor and Siccar acquiring fields from Shell, Austria’s OMV and France’s Engie.
But despite around $10 billion worth of deals in the North Sea over the past two years, private equity firms remain fairly small players with their total share still below 10 percent.
On Tuesday, UBS analysts upgraded Total to “Buy” from “Neutral” after the Maersk deal, saying Total bought the assets at an average price of $7.3 per barrel of oil resources, implying a long-term Brent price of $62 per barrel.
“In the context of a global asset market dominated by U.S. unconventional and Canadian oil sands transactions this year, a conventional offshore deal stands out as an anomaly,” UBS said.
It said that opportunities for inorganic growth in the North Sea were beginning to diminish because EU utilities have fully divested of the upstream sector while oil majors have also largely sold out their non-core portfolios.
“The sale of another North Sea focused portfolio that was on the market, combined with Total’s clear commitment to the basin, emphasises that competition for assets could remain high in spite of depressed oil prices,” UBS said.
Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Susan Thomas
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
