Equinor sells loss-making shale assets in U.S. Bakken to Grayson Mill

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s Equinor said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell its assets in the U.S. Bakken oil province after a decade plagued with billions of dollars of losses and criticism at home for poor investment decisions.

Equinor will sell its entire acreage, located in the states of North Dakota and Montana, to Grayson Mill Energy, a company backed by EnCap Investments, for a total of around $900 million.

Between 2007 and 2019, Equinor recorded an accounting loss of $21.5 billion on its U.S. activities, including $9.2 billion due to impairments of onshore shale and other assets, a company commissioned report by accountants PwC has shown.

Norwegian lawmakers have called on the government, as Equinor’s largest shareholder, to take a more active role, and Energy Minister Tina Bru has demanded more transparency from Equinor.

Equinor separately reported a record annual net loss of $5.5 billion for 2020, hit by low oil and gas prices and large writedowns amid the pandemic, and cut its planned capital expenditure for 2021-2022.

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