BP’s plan to offload its stakes in some of the North Sea’s older oil and gasfields in a $625m (£477m) deal with Premier Oil (PMO) could be derailed by a row over Premier’s $2bn debt pile. BP (BP.) agreed to sell its share in the Andrew and Shearwater fields to its smaller, debt-laden rival as part of a plan to pare its ageing North Sea portfolio. Under the terms of the deal BP will hand Premier Oil the Andrew platform and its controlling stake in five surrounding fields, as well as its minority stake in the Shearwater field, which is operated by Shell. In a separate deal, Premier Oil has also agreed to pay $246m to Dana Petroleum to buy a separate clutch of North Sea assets. The FTSE 250 oil producer believes the fields, which together produce the equivalent of 23,000 barrels of oil a day, should help to generate $1bn of free cashflow to the end of 2023, which would help pay off its debts. But one of Premier Oil’s largest creditors has warned it will “vigorously contest” the spending spree, which will require a $2.9bn refinancing and a $500m equity raise. Hong Kong’s Asia Research and Capital Management (ARCM) said it would “take all steps to oppose the company’s proposal”, adding it was “deeply concerned” that Premier plans to invest in the North Sea basin.
Supermarkets recorded the slowest Christmas sales growth in at least four years as the big four chains lost sales, according to industry analysts. While grocers took a record £29.3bn in the so-called golden quarter, the 0.2% rise in sales across the sector was the lowest rate of growth since 2015, according to research firm Kantar. Rival analysts at Nielsen said the growth was the worst in five years, with families spending less on alcohol. Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW), which on Tuesday revealed a 1.7% slide in sales in the 22 weeks to 5 January, said it had endured an “unusually challenging period for sales” as consumer confidence was subdued by concerns about Brexit and the wider economy.
