Centrica to buy Hawkeye Exploration

Energy group Centrica said it was buying a North Sea gas exploration company for £ 7.1 mm. Centrica, which owns British Gas, said it had agreed with Tullow Oil to buy Hawkeye Exploration, which owns a 50 % share of the undeveloped Horne and Wren gas fields in the Southern North Sea.
Centrica said it expected the acquisition to add about 230 mm therms to its equity gas portfolio.

The fields are expected to produce their first gas next summer, with extraction set to continue for two years.
The group said the acquisition would also benefit it through tariff income received via its interests in the Thames field, through which gas from Horne and Wren will be transported.

Managing director of Centrica Energy, Jake Ulrich, said: "This acquisition is further evidence of our investment in upstream gas and power assets to secure energy supplies for our British Gas customers.”
"The agreement fits with our strategy of acquiring producing or development-stage assets that bring uncontracted gasto our portfolio."