The Canadian-based operator of the Corrib gas field has increased its stake in the north Mayo project to 56.5 per cent.
Vermilion Energy says it is now “the largest provider of domestic natural gas in Ireland” after confirming acquisition of the Equinor ASA stake in the project.
The gas field’s revenues benefited from a 61 per cent increase in gas prices last year, according to the Vermilion Energy annual report for 2022.
In a statement, the Canadian energy company said the acquisition “adds an incremental 36.5% interest in the Corrib Natural Gas Project, increasing Vermilion's operated interest to 56.5%”.
The company said it had entered into an agreement with Equinor ASA in November 2021 to acquire its stake for US$434 million ($556 million), “before closing adjustments and contingent payments”.
It said net purchase price was approximately $200 million.
This net price was after “adjusting for the interim free cash flow between the effective date and closing date inclusive of Vermilion's estimates of European windfall taxes based on information released to-date on how it will be implemented in Ireland, the contingent payment and other closing adjustments”, the company said.
The acquisition “adds approximately 7,000 boe/d of premium-priced, high netback, low emission European natural gas production, further strengthening Vermilion's international portfolio”, it said.
The company described Corrib as a “world-class, low emission, natural gas facility, comprised of a conventional gas field located 83 kilometres off the northwest coast of Ireland and a state of the art gas processing plant onshore Ireland”.
“The facility has a gross plant capacity of approximately 350 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and is currently producing 115 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, representing approximately 20% of Ireland's natural gas consumption and 100% of Ireland's domestic gas production,”it said.
It said that since taking over operatorship in 2018 from Shell, Vermilion has “reduced costs and increased uptime while maintaining world-class safety and environmental performance”.