Browne joins oil and gas group Fairfield after £97m investment

A PRIVATE equity group is pumping £97 million into Aberdeen-based oil and gas group Fairfield Energy in a deal that will see former BP chief executive Lord Browne return to the North Sea.

Under the equity financing deal Riverstone Holdings – where Lord Browne is a partner – also has the option of subscribing a further £129m alongside current investors in the company led by New York-based Warburg Pincus.

The funding will be used to develop existing interests built up by Fairfield but also to acquire new exploration assets.

Fairfield was set up in 2005 to benefit from a move from traditional North Sea players to sell off some of their non-core assets as they focused on “frontier” exploration areas elsewhere around the world. It has built a number of exploration and appraisal, development, and production assets Ron Emerson, chairman of Fairfield, said the involvement of Riverstone and Browne – who will join the board of the Aberdeen company – would bring “significant industry experience and wisdom to the company”.

“With a strengthened balance sheet, a quality portfolio and the right team in place, we have an excellent platform and are very excited about Fairfield’s future as a highly successful exploration and production company.”

Fairfield’s interests include the Dunlin, Darwin, Clipper South, Crawford and Porter fields. Darwin will see a major programme of exploration and appraisal drilling this year with three wells planned in partnership with Abu Dhabi-owned Taqa.

The Crawford and Porter discoveries are progressing to the field development plan stage with EnQuest as operator and first gas production from the Clipper South development is expected this summer.

Simon Eyers, managing director of Warburg Pincus, said Fairfield was fast evolving as “a significant player in the UK North Sea”.

“We are excited to be so well-positioned to capture the considerable value that exists in Fairfield’s portfolio, as well as in the many new opportunities in the North Sea that the company will have access to with the Riverstone investment.”