Taqa buys Total's stake in North Sea Otter oil blocks

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) said on Wednesday it bought Total SA's entire 81 per cent stake in production licences for two blocks in the North Sea Otter oilfield.

The deal is one of a series of recent acquisitions of North Sea oil interests by TTaqa, 75 per cent-owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, which has been building up assets in mature offshore fields that other oil companies have discarded.

Otter lies adjacent to Taqa Bratani's existing North Sea interests, purchased in 2008, and is a sub-sea tieback to the Taqa Bratani operated Eider Platform.

Average production from the Otter Field so far this year had been about 8,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, Taqa said in a statement. The deal was signed by its unit Taqa Bratani Ltd.

It gave no financial details.

The statement quoted Taqa Bratani managing director Leo Koot as saying the investment demonstrated the potential the company saw in extending the productive life and commercial viability of mature oil and gas fields.

"This transaction is an excellent fit with our strategic objectives and again presents us with the opportunity to grow production and further develop the blocks," Koot said.

A Taqa spokeswoman declined to give further details. A Total spokesman was unavailable for immediate comment.