BP spins off Norway business into billionaire's oil explorer

London

BP plc sold its Norwegian oil fields, some more than 40 years old, to a company controlled by billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke in a 10.8 billion kroner (S$1.8 billion) stock deal.

The new business, called Aker BP ASA, will be the seventh-largest producer in Norway, with daily oil and natural gas output of about 122,000 barrels of oil equivalent, according to statements from the companies on Friday. Aker ASA, the Norwegian billionaire's holding company, will have 40 per cent of the venture and BP will retain 30 per cent.