The assets in question were originally put up for sale in February 2011, but buyers were possibly put off by the UK budget that followed shortly after, which raised petroleum taxes in a surprise move to reap an additional £2 billion for the treasury. Twelve months later and following several suspended projects on the back of the tax increase, the government introduced measures to underwrite up to 75% of decommissioning costs, making the North Sea a more viable acquisition target again.

On the same day as the North Sea asset divestment, it was revealed that BP acquired 84,000 acres in Ohio, prospective for the emerging Utica shale play. The consideration was undisclosed but is thought to be around $330 million, representing a cost per acre of just under $4,000. This represents a high price for a largely unproven play but early indications from Chesapeake’s exploration program indicate that the liquids-rich play could surpass that of the Eagle Ford in which the liquids-rich sweet spots demand in excess of $20,000 per acre.

Continental Resources agreed to a deal to acquire the assets of Wheatland Oil Inc. for $340 million. Wheatland Oil’s principal assets are a 5% interest in a large portion of Continental Resources’ Bakken acreage. The assets include 37,900 acres of developed and undeveloped acreage, 17 million boe of proved reserves and production of 2,500 boe/d.

There were two results from national licensing rounds this week with India announcing the results of its ninth NELP round and Uruguay announcing the result of their second round focusing on offshore exploration blocks. India’s ninth round included a diverse mix of assets including deep and shallow water blocks off the East and West coasts and onshore assets in four states. Although the government previously intimated that the round would be open to foreign companies, the results were dominated by domestic state-run firms who received over half of the operatorships. Only one company based outside of India was successful in gaining an operatorship, with US-based Deep Industries winning operator status for three blocks.

In Uruguay, the results of the second national licensing round were reported, three years following its first offering of exploration blocks to energy companies. As the blocks are located in deep water areas, which require technical knowledge and deep pockets, the list of qualified bidders were made up of major and mid-cap companies. The final block awards went to BP and BG, who each won three blocks, and Total and Tullow Oil, who took one block each.