Norway's offshore sector boosted by wave of mergers

Strategic tie-ups are providing some badly needed lifeblood for the Norwegian offshore sector

Gazprom may have given up on its plans to get a toehold in Norway's upstream via an alliance with Austria's OMV; but the current wave of mergers and asset consolidations are beefing up investment prospects for an offshore sector eager to stem future production declines. In October, Gazprom abandoned plans to swap assets with Austria's OMV, a move under discussion for two years. The deal would have given the Russian state-backed company a 38.5% stake in OMV's Norwegian subsidiary, OMV Norge, in return for a share in its Achimov development in Russia. Instead, OMV has agreed to buy a 24.98% stake in the 4A and 5A phases at Achimov for an undisclosed cash sum. The firms say the deal's terms wil