FACTBOX-Utilities, sovereign wealth firms buy into North Sea

Sept 29 (Reuters) - European energy utilities and companies backed by sovereign wealth funds are buying into oil and gas fields in the North Sea, replacing some of the major oil companies that have dominated the region since the 1960s.

This new breed of investor has good cash flow, easy access to credit and the need to secure upstream hydrocarbon reserves.

Here is a selection of recent moves by these investors which have begun to buy upstream oil and gas assets in the North Sea:

UTILITIES

CENTRICA

* Centrica (CNA.L), Britain's largest gas retailer, won a battle last month to take over oil and gas producer Venture Production VPC.L for $2 billion in a move that will help it meet supply obligations and reduce reliance on wholesale gas markets. Centrica Chief Executive Sam Laidlaw said the takeover would help Centrica increase its gas supplies. Venture has specialised in harvesting value from mature oil and gas finds that other companies have discarded. [ID:nLP228691]

RWE

* RWE Dea, a unit of German utility RWE (RWEG.DE), has said it expects to double its oil and gas production to 70 million barrels of oil equivalent per year (boepy) by 2014/2015. It said on Sept. 22 it planned to invest an average 850 million euros per year in upstream operations between 2009 and 2018.

* RWE Dea expects its new Breagh gas field on stream by 2012 with peak production probably around 1.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year.

E.ON RUHRGAS

* German utility giant E.ON Ruhrgas AG (EONGn.DE) [EONR.UL] has been bidding actively for acreage in Norway's licensing rounds as part of its expansion into upstream gas production. E.ON Ruhrgas, the largest single buyer of Norwegian gas, has set a long-term target to produce 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year to improve the security of its supplies. In 2007, the company produced about 1.3 bcm. E.ON Ruhrgas has several exploration licences off Norway and has been cleared as an operator on the Norwegian shelf. [ID:nLR94543]

* E.ON Ruhrgas began production from the Rita gas field in the UK North Sea in March. The field in the UK Southern Gas Basin is the first to be developed by E.ON Ruhrgas as operator with a 74 percent equity share. GDF Suez (GSZ.PA) holds the rest. [ID:nLK173733]

* E.ON Ruhrgas is installing the first gas production platform at the Babbage field in the North Sea and expects the first gas in April 2010. The company plans to drill five wells in two phases by 2011, which is expected to bring daily gas output to about 2 million cubic metres, its upstream division said on Sept. 23. Estimated reserves at the Babbage field are 5 billion cubic metres and gas is expected to be produced over 20 years. E.ON Ruhrgas is the operator of the field, with 47 percent. Dana Petroleum Ltd holds 40 percent and a Centrica (CNA.L) unit 13 percent. [ID:nLN114798]

GDF SUEZ

* French utility GDF Suez has been buying upstream oil and gas assets over the last few years and holds significant stakes in several developments. GDF owns a 10 percent stake in the production licence for the new Gro prospect in the Norwegian North Sea, which Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has said could hold as much as 100 bcm of gas. [ID:nLJ333944]

EDF

* French state-controlled power group Electricite de France (EDF) (EDF.PA) acquired its first gas production assets in 2008 via a deal with ATP Oil & Gas UK, a subsidiary of U.S. oil company ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (ATPG.O) covering the acquisition of its holdings in gas assets in the UK North Sea.

WINTERSHALL

* German oil and gas group Wintershall, part of chemicals group BASF (BASF.DE), has taken stakes in dozens of British and Norwegian oil and gas licences. It agreed in October 2008 to buy Norway's Revus Energy for $740 million. Analysts said Revus had reserves of 28.5 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company has stakes in four producing fields -- Broom, Murchison, Veslefrikk and Brage -- and a number of potential commercial discoveries, including the Luno and Jordbaer finds off Norway. [ID:nLR242762]

* Wintershall found oil and gas in a North Sea well in July, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said. The discoveries were estimated at 35-190 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents. [ID:nL8489603]

SOVEREIGN WEALTH

ABU DHABI

* The Abu Dhabi National Energy Co TAQA.AD (Taqa) has bought substantial interests in UK North Sea oil and gas production operations over the last three years and now has more than $2 billion of North Sea assets. The company, 75 percent owned by the Abu Dhabi government, is an investment vehicle used to spend state oil revenues. [ID:nL3527221]

* Taqa bought four UK North Sea exploration blocks from Shell and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) earlier this month.

* Taqa last month took control of operations in the North Sea Brent crude system from Shell. Oil sold through the system is part of one of the benchmarks used to value millions of barrels of oil worldwide every day.

CHINA

* China's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp, has said it is considering investing in energy assets because of low prices and potential for long-term returns. Industry sources say buyers with links to Chinese state companies have expressed an interest in several North Sea assets, including the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland, connected to the North Sea Forties pipeline, which delivers almost half the UK's daily oil production of around 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd). (Reporting by Christopher Johnson; editing by Sue Thomas)