REG - Centrica PLC - Sale of interest in the Cygnus gas field

CentricaAnnouncement

Tue 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250520:nRST2971Ja&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2971J  Centrica PLC  20 May 2025

20 May 2025

 

Centrica plc

Sale of interest in the Cygnus gas field

Centrica plc ("Centrica") announces that subsidiaries of Spirit Energy Limited
("Spirit Energy" or "Spirit") have entered into agreements to sell a 46.25%
interest in the Cygnus gas field(1) to a subsidiary of Ithaca Energy plc
("Ithaca Energy"). The total value of the transaction to Spirit Energy is
approximately £215 million, including headline consideration of £116 million
and the transfer of £99 million of decommissioning liabilities associated
with the interest. Centrica's 69% share of headline consideration is expected
to be £80 million.

 

The disposal has a commercial effective date of 1 January 2025 and is expected
to complete during the second half of 2025, with customary interim period
adjustments to be applied.

 

The transaction is strongly aligned with Centrica and Spirit Energy's strategy
to maximise value from Spirit's remaining reserves, delivering attractive
upfront cash consideration, and provides further value by transferring
long-term liabilities. As an existing shareholder and the operator of Cygnus,
Ithaca Energy is ideally positioned to take on majority ownership of the
asset. Following completion of the transaction, Spirit Energy will remain
focused on the development of the long-term Morecambe Net Zero(2) carbon
storage project, its remaining producing assets and safely and efficiently
decommissioning its facilities and wells with minimum environmental impact.

 

Spirit Energy's 2P reserves will be reduced by 19.4mmboe (1,139mmth of gas,
0.4mmboe of Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs)) to reflect the interest disposed.

 

Chris O'Shea, Group Chief Executive of Centrica and Chairman of Spirit Energy,
said: "Our focus is on delivering value for Centrica's colleagues, customers
and shareholders through the energy transition. Through this disposal we are
taking another step in reducing our exposure to gas production while
accelerating the delivery of enhanced value to shareholders, allowing the
Spirit team to further focus on delivering the largest carbon storage project
in Europe at Morecambe Net Zero.

 

This is only one of many exciting opportunities across Centrica, aligned to
the energy transition, as we continue to re-position our infrastructure
portfolio, and we remain firmly focused on capturing the immense value on
offer."

 

Enquiries:

Investors and Analysts:

email: ir@centrica.com (mailto:ir@centrica.com)

 

Media:

email: media@centrica.com (mailto:media@centrica.com)

tel: +44 (0)1784 843000

 

Notes:

1.     Cygnus is located in the Southern North Sea, approximately 150km
east of the Lincolnshire coast. Cygnus is jointly owned by Spirit Energy
(61.25%) and Ithaca Energy plc, through its subsidiary Eni UK (38.75%); Ithaca
Energy is the operator. Following completion of the transaction, Spirit Energy
will retain a 15.00% interest in the field. At the end of 2024, Spirit had 2P
reserves at the field of approximately 25.7mmboe (1,509mmth of gas, 0.5mmboe
of NGLs) and produced approximately 6.9mmboe (399mmth of gas, 0.1mmboe of
NGLs) in 2024. 2P reserves associated with the 46.25% stake are approximately
19.4mmboe (1,139mmth of gas and 0.4mmboe of NGLs), with 2024 production
approximately 5.2mmboe (301mmth of gas, 0.1mmboe of NGLs). 2025 production
from Spirit Energy's 61.25% share in Cygnus is expected to be approximately
6mmboe (of which approximately 98% is gas); 46.25% share approximately
4.5mmboe.

2.     The Morecambe Net Zero carbon storage project aims to repurpose the
depleted South and North Morecambe gas fields off the coast of
Barrow-in-Furness into a world-leading carbon storage facility, able to accept
up to 1 gigaton of CO(2) in its lifetime, the equivalent of three years' worth
of UK CO(2) emissions.

 

Centrica plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (CNA)

Registered Office: Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 5GD

Registered in England & Wales number: 3033654

Legal Entity Identifier number: E26EDV109X6EEPBKVH76

ISIN number: GB00B033F229

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  DISPKCBDFBKDKPD