Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum is spinning off its non-Norwegian assets in a new company
Sweden's Lundin Petroleum has announced plans to spin off its assets from outside Norway into an independently listed oil and gas firm.
The newly formed company, International Petroleum Corporation (IPC), will take control of Lundin's assets in Malaysia, France and the Netherlands.
IPC will distribute shares in the new firm to existing investors. It has applied to the Toronto Stock Exchange and intends to float on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange as well.
Lundin's shares increased nearly four per cent in morning trading.
Ian Lundin, chairman of the board, said the new company will work to "create value at a time in the cycle when the industry remains under-capitalised and multiple opportunities are available as companies rationalise their portfolios."
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The non-Norway assets will benefit from "strategic flexibility" and enhanced management focus as well as independent visibility to shareholders, the company said in a statement.
Lundin will focus solely on its Norwegian portfolio, which accounts for 96 per cent of its reserves and 88 per cent of its 2017 production guidance.
"With the spin-off, Lundin Petroleum will become fully focused on Norway, which I am convinced will serve to further crystallise the value of our high-growth asset portfolio in the North Sea and the southern Barents Sea." Lundin said.
The company also today announced an oil discovery of between 35m and 100m barrels of oil equivalents in Norway's southern Barents Sea.
However, it set an output target of between 79,000 to 91,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for 2017, which was below forecasts according to Reuters.
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