Offshore & subsea - 20 May 2019

Rystad Energy is predicting that North Sea oil production will drop next month to the lowest level since August 2014.

The winning companies offered bids totalling US$724 million, the government said in official statements, and won the rights to explore for up to 13 years in areas of the South Atlantic.

The contract relates to the company's recently acquired jack-up rig, Shelf Drilling Achiever.

The assets could be worth as much as US$1.5 billion.

The company's interest has been sold to the existing partners in the Block 5 exploration licence, subsidiaries of Murphy Oil Corporation, Wintershall Dea and Petronas.