3 FTSE Oil & Gas Stocks in Focus as BP Plans to Sell 28% Stake in Shearwater Field

BP Plc (LON:BP) is reportedly in the final stages of its 28 per cent stake sale discussion in the Shearwater field to Tailwind Energy Ltd, an explorer backed by Mercuria Energy Group Ltd, a commodity trading company. The Shearwater field is operated by oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc (LON:RDSA).

Tailwind has assets both in UK’s Central North Sea, as well as in the Irish Sea. It also has a 25 per cent stake in the Columbus field, 35 kilometres from Shearwater.

In 2016, Tailwind was incorporated to acquire oil and gas assets that bigger oil and gas companies were offloading. Tailwind acquired Exxon Mobil Corp and Shell’s stakes in 2018 in the Triton cluster. It also bought EOG Resources’ offshore assets in Britain in the same year.

As per media reports, the deal is expected to get finalised in the coming days. Last year BP had agreed to sell both Andrew projects and Shearwater to Premier Oil Plc for a valuation of $625 million. However, the deal could not go through as Premier was acquired by Chrysaor Holdings Ltd.

A few small energy companies showed interest in the assets after the agreement with Premier Oil fell through. Shearwater produces almost 18,000 barrels of oil equivalent each day. It peaked in 2004 when it had managed to pump over 160,000 a day.

Here is a look at the 3 other oil & gas stocks and their performance:

Wood Group (John) Plc (LON: WG.)

The shares of the company were up 0.22 per cent, trading at GBX 271.8 on 18 May at 08:51 GMT+1. The company has a market capitalisation of £1,864.71 million. Meanwhile, the broader index, FTSE 250 was up 0.64 per cent at 22,356.02.

(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)

For the year ended 31 December 2020, the company reported a 23.5 per cent fall in revenue to $7,564 million from $9,890 million a year ago. The company reported a loss of $228 million compared to a profit of $73 million a year ago. The company also announced a number of programmes to deliver better efficiency and tap stronger medium-term growth.

Energean Plc (LON: ENOG)

The shares of the company were up 2.69 per cent, trading at GBX 839.5 on 18 May at 09:13 GMT+1. The company has a market capitalisation of £1,446.35 million.

(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)

The company’s sales revenue for 2020 fell to $28 million from $75.7 million a year ago. Its operating loss increased to $124.5 million from a loss of $93.9 million. The company said that the next stages of transition would involve applying new technologies to older fields to convert them into underground storage facilities and carbon capture, beginning with Prinos.

Cairn Energy Plc (LON: CNE)

The shares of the company were trading at GBX 171.8, up by 1.47 per cent on 18 May at 09:59 GMT+1. The company has a market capitalisation of £847.76 million.

(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)

For the full year ended 2020, the company’s net oil production averaged a little over 21,000 bopd, compared to 23,000 bopd in 2019. Revenue from oil and gas was at $324 million compared to $504 million a year ago. It reported an operating loss of $67 million compared to an operating profit of $155 million a year ago.