WSJ: RWE to Proceed With North Sea Gas Deal

German utility RWE AG and an energy-investment fund led by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman signaled on Sunday they would proceed this week with a $5.6 billion deal for oil-and-gas fields over the objections of the U.K. government reports the Wall Strret Journal.

The deal to sell RWE’s oil-and-gas arm Dea would give Mr. Fridman the assets to launch a new international oil company, with fields in Britain, Norway, Denmark and Germany, and licenses to work in Algeria, Guyana, Turkmenistan and other countries. Dea produces about 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

The deal comes amid heightened concerns about Russian control over European energy supplies. The U.K.’s Department of Energy and Climate Change said Saturday that it wouldn’t approve the sale of the British North Sea natural-gas fields, which form about 20% of the Dea transaction.