SSE offloads North Sea assets for £120m amid renewable push

Perth-based energy giant SSE has agreed to sell its natural gas exploration and production division to rival Viaro Energy via its subsidiary RockRose Energy for £120 million – seeing it exit the North Sea.

The deal comprises shares in more than 15 producing fields in three regions in the North Sea (file image). Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images.

The deal will go to regulators for approval and is made up of shares in more than 15 producing fields in three regions in the North Sea: the Easington Catchment Area, the Bacton Catchment Area, and the Greater Laggan Area.

As part of the deal, SSE will be required to pay 60 per cent of decommissioning costs once the sites are no longer viable. SSE plans to focus investment on its networks and renewables businesses, with plans to spend £7.5 billion on low-carbon energy infrastructure over the next five years and to treble its renewable electricity output by 2030.

The energy company has so far secured over £1.4bn from the disposal of non-core assets as part of its £2bn-plus disposal programme by autumn 2021. The latest sale follows agreements to sell its share in energy-from-waste venture Multifuel Energy, its non-operating stake in Walney Offshore Wind Farm, and its equity interest in meter asset provider MapleCo.

Finance director Gregor Alexander said: "We have said for some time that gas exploration and production assets are inconsistent with our future ambitions and vision to be a leading energy company in a net-zero world.

“This sale clearly comes at a difficult time for the E&P sector, and the economy as a whole, but we believe it is the right move for our shareholders as we focus our resources on our core low-carbon businesses. It represents further progress on our strategy to dispose of non-core assets."

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.