Spirit Energy Ltd has agreed a £215 million sale of a 46.25% interest in the Cygnus gas field, 150km east of the Lincolnshire coast in the Southern North Sea.
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The company will retain a 15% stake while Israeli purchaser and operator Ithaca Energy plc will hold 85%.
Spirit’s 2P reserves will reduce by 19.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (1,139mmth of gas, 0.4mmboe of natural gas liquids.
The transaction comprises a headline consideration of £116m and the transfer of £99m of decommissioning liabilities.
Spirit’s parent company Centrica plc holds a 69% share of the headline consideration, expected to be £80m.
The sale has an effective date of 1 January 2025 and is expected to complete during the second half of 2025.
Centrica said that the deal aligned with its own and Spirit’s strategy to maximise value from Spirit’s remaining reserves.
Spirit’s remaining producing assets include the operated Markham, Chiswick, Grove and Kew fields and J6A platform in the Great Markham area in the Dutch North Sea.
Centrica group chief executive and Spirit chairman Chris O’Shea added that the sale further reduced Spirit’s exposure to gas production allowing it to further focus on the “largest carbon storage project in Europe” at Morecambe net zero, in the East Irish Sea.
“This is only one of many exciting opportunities across Centrica, aligned to the energy transition, as we continue to re-position our infrastructure portfolio, and we remain firmly focused on capturing the immense value on offer.”