Mime Petroleum AS (together with its subsidiaries referred to as “Mime Petroleum” or “the Company”), a new independent development and production company established earlier this year by Blue Water Energy LLP (“BWE” or “Blue Water Energy”) and Sverre Skogen (Chairman and CEO), announces that they have partnered with Blackstone Energy Partners (“Blackstone”).
BWE and Blackstone have agreed to lead an initial investment of up to $1 billion in Mime Petroleum.
Mime Petroleum is primarily focused on driving value creation in existing fields and licences on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (“NCS”). The Company will acquire assets available on the NCS and pursue production optimization, developments and near-field exploration opportunities. The Mime Petroleum management team has a long track record of M&A, technical, commercial and financial success on the NCS.
Mr. Sverre Skogen was Executive / Non-Executive Chairman of Det norske oljeselskap (now Aker BP). The core management team is comprised of five executives who previously worked together building DEA Norge’s upstream business, along with Harald Grøsfjeld who joined as CFO with over 29 years’ experience in the oil industry. Mustafa M. Siddiqui, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, and Kjell-Erik Østdahl, Senior Advisor at Blackstone and former Executive Vice President for Operations at Schlumberger, will join the board of Mime Petroleum.
Sverre Skogen, Chairman and CEO of Mime Petroleum, commented on the announcement: “Whilst Blue Water Energy has provided strong strategic and financial support to date, this is now significantly enhanced in combination with Blackstone. Mustafa Siddiqui and his team are a welcome addition and I am looking forward to working with both parties on delivering the vision we have for Mime Petroleum. There are a lot of high-quality opportunities on the NCS, and, with two of the foremost energy investors behind us, we are well positioned to take advantage of these.”
Mustafa M. Siddiqui, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, added: “We are delighted to be backing Sverre Skogen and the Mime Petroleum team. With $15 billion of capital invested in the energy sector, we continue our track record of supporting top management teams with the growth capital and resources to build energy industry champions. We and BWE have enjoyed a successful partnership in the UK and we look forward to replicating that success in Norway.”
Graeme Sword, Partner of Blue Water Energy, said: “We are happy to partner with Blackstone again on building another leading E&P business. We want to provide our portfolio companies with the optimal shareholder base and we believe Blackstone is an aligned partner that shares our ambitions for Mime.”
