Solo Oil Snaps Up Stakes in Dutch Gas Fields

London-listed Solo Oil has snapped up non-operating interests in offshore gas assets in the Netherlands, it said on October 9. The company has also announced it will change its name to Scirocco Energy.

Under a binding sale and purchase agreement, Solo will pay €30.1mn ($32mn) upfront to the Netherland’s One-Dyas for stakes in 14 gas fields in the Dutch North Sea. It has also agreed to make a further €2.0mn payment once first production at one of the fields is achieved.

The assets are set to produce 2,125 barrels of oil equivalent/day in 2020, Solo said. It aims to close the transaction in the fourth quarter although it will be backdated to January 1 2019. Solo plans to fund the purchase with a new debt facility agreed with Mercuria Energy Group, new equity and its existing cash resources.

“We are delighted to have agreed this truly transformative transaction with ONE-Dyas to acquire working interest positions in a package of mid-life gas field assets,” Solo non-executive chairman Alastair Ferguson said.

The deal, he said, was the culmination of 12 months of “hard work in re-determining the company’s strategy.”

“Our priority has been on ensuring the first deal we bring to shareholders is value accretive and reflects the ambition of the board to build a new mid-cap company backed by high-quality assets and stable cash flow,” Ferguson added.