Equinor divests its US onshore assets in the Bakken

Equinor has agreed to divest its interests in the Bakken field in the US states of North Dakota and Montana to Grayson Mill Energy, backed by EnCap Investments, for a total consideration of around US$900 million.

The transaction covers all of Equinor’s operated and non-operated acreage, totalling 242,000 net acres, and associated midstream assets in the Bakken. Entitlement production from these assets in 4Q 2020 was 48,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (net of royalty interests). In parallel with this transaction, Equinor Marketing and Trading will enter into a term purchase agreement for crude offtake with Grayson Mill Energy.

As part of the agreed transaction, all Equinor field employees and a significant number of the support teams working on the Bakken assets will have the opportunity to transfer to Grayson Mill Energy.

The effective date of the transaction is 1 January 2021. Closing is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, including authority approvals.