North Sea buyers wanted
The UKCS in particular has a pipeline of assets for sale. But who will the purchasers be?
“We got off to a really fast start at the beginning of this year. It has somewhat stagnated in the North Sea, but we still see plenty of opportunities in the pipeline.” So said Neivan Boroujerdi, principal analyst, North Sea upstream oil and gas at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, speaking at the Energy Voice Future North Sea conference in early September. Boroujerdi sees different types of actors that could be sellers of North Sea assets, including Asian players. “A good example of that is Japanese trading houses really changing their approach to upstream in light of net CO₂ targets,” he says. While ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, BP and Shell have all sold North Sea assets in recent years,
Also in this section
23 January 2026
A strategic pivot away from Russian crude in recent weeks tees up the possibility of improved US-India trade relations
23 January 2026
The signing of a deal with a TotalEnergies-led consortium to explore for gas in a block adjoining Israel’s maritime area may breathe new life into the country’s gas ambitions
22 January 2026
As Saudi Arabia pushes mining as a new pillar of its economy, Saudi Aramco is positioning itself at the intersection of hydrocarbons, minerals and industrial policy
22 January 2026
New long-term deal is latest addition to country’s rapidly evolving supply portfolio as it eyes role as regional gas hub






