By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Dec. 7 -- Danish oil company DONG AS will buy Norwegian oil company Pelican AS for 417 million Norwegian kroner ($46.5 million).
The price is 250 kroner/share.
The acquisition, which is subject to government approval, would increase DONG's production by 50% to 30,000 b/d. Pelican would be known as DONG Norge AS.
Pelican has ownership interests in Ula (4%), Gyda (5%), Tamber (15%), and Glitne (9.3%) licenses. The company has 20 employees.
Partners in Pelican prior to the acquisition are AS Selvaag Invest 36.2%, Norsk Hydro Produksjon AS 33.9%, Belships ASA 9.9%, Actinor Olje AS (Hafslund) 9.7%, Kværner Oil & Gas AS 5.2%, and Pelican's employees 5.3%.
DONG Norge AS will continue to employ all Pelican staff. The Pelican office in Høvik near Oslo will be DONG's base in Norway.
"The acquisition of Pelican is an important step in our efforts to expand DONG's exploration and production activities to cover the entire North Sea area. With Pelican we have also acquired a competent subsidiary in Norway as a platform for our activities," said Søren Gath Hansen, vice-president of DONG.
