Total Wins Qatar Oil Stake from Maersk

Maersk Oil, a unit of Danish conglomerate A. P. Moller-Maersk, will focus on building on its operations in the North Sea and in Kenya, after it lost the contract to operate Qatar's largest offshore oilfield.

France's Total on Monday won a 30 percent stake in a new 25-year contract to operate the Al-Shaheen oilfield. The Al-Shaheen field produces 300 thousand barrels of oil per day, and began production in 1994. The existing development consists of 30 platforms and 300 wells, and production from the field represents about half of Qatar’s oil production. The concession will be operated by a new operating company held 70 percent by Qatar Petroleum and 30 percent by Total.

In July 2015, Qatar Petroleum invited a number of international oil companies to participate in a competitive tender process regarding the future development of the field in Qatar. Presently Maersk Oil is the operator of the field and the current 25 year production sharing agreement expires in July 2017.

The Total win is seen as a blow to Maersk, which has been operating the oilfield since 1992.

"Going forward it gives us clarity and gives us a good opportunity to focus on building on our material business in the North Sea, and in Kenya and other areas," the head of Maersk Oil Jakob Thomasen said.

“Maersk Oil is growing as a result of improved operating performance and with major projects like Culzean in the U.K. and Johan Sverdrup in Norway, we continue adding new production through to the end of the decade. We will continue to deliver in the years ahead based on a strong operational performance and cost focus and ensure that our major projects are executed on time and on budget,” says Thomasen.

Maersk has operations in the British, Norwegian and Danish parts of the North Sea.