Seadrill Sells Rig T15 to Partners

Seadrill Limited has entered into an agreement to sell the companies that own and operate the tender rig T15 to Seadrill Partners LLC for a total consideration of $210 million, less approximately $100 million of debt outstanding under the credit facility secured by the T15. The balance of the acquisition price will be financed with vendor financing provided by Seadrill in the form of a loan in the amount of approximately $110 million due in 2016, accruing interest quarterly at 5 percent plus LIBOR. It is expected that the vendor financing will be refinanced prior to its maturity.

The T15 is contracted for a five-year period with Chevron in Thailand at a dayrate of $115,500. The rig is currently undergoing acceptance testing in Singapore prior to mobilizing to its drilling location, which is expected to occur by mid-June. The rig is currently earning a standby dayrate until it arrives in Thailand and commences operations.

The transaction is expected to close prior to the end of May 2013.

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SandRidge CEO Sells Shares Days After Truce With Activist Investor

HOUSTON - SandRidge Energy Inc. Chief Executive Tom Ward sold about 13.5% of his SandRidge stock days after the company reached a truce with an activist investor that could lead to the executive's departure.

Mr. Ward sold 3.7 million shares of SandRidge in two transactions Friday and Monday, netting about $21 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He still owns nearly 23.5 million shares, or close to 5% of SandRidge's shares according to figures from the company's website.

The move came in the wake of the partial success last week of a months-long campaign by hedge fund TPG-Axon Capital Management, which sought to replace SandRidge's board, including Mr. Ward. The campaign ended in a settlement, under which four of the fund's nominees would join the board.

Under the deal, Mr. Ward will keep his position as chief executive and board chairman for the time being, but the board will have to decide his fate by June 30. If it keeps him in place, three current SandRidge board members will have to leave and an additional nominee by TPG-Axon will join, giving the activist investor a majority of the seats on the board.

If Mr. Ward is terminated, current chief financial officer James Bennett will become interim chief executive and the board will conduct a search for a successor.

A spokesman for SandRidge did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The board's decision will come after a review of the company's strategy and costs, including an independent firm's review of land deals the company entered with entities controlled by relatives of Mr. Ward, according to the settlement announced last week.

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SandRidge CEO Sells Shares Days After Truce With Activist Investor

HOUSTON - SandRidge Energy Inc. Chief Executive Tom Ward sold about 13.5% of his SandRidge stock days after the company reached a truce with an activist investor that could lead to the executive's departure.

Mr. Ward sold 3.7 million shares of SandRidge in two transactions Friday and Monday, netting about $21 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He still owns nearly 23.5 million shares, or close to 5% of SandRidge's shares according to figures from the company's website.

The move came in the wake of the partial success last week of a months-long campaign by hedge fund TPG-Axon Capital Management, which sought to replace SandRidge's board, including Mr. Ward. The campaign ended in a settlement, under which four of the fund's nominees would join the board.

Under the deal, Mr. Ward will keep his position as chief executive and board chairman for the time being, but the board will have to decide his fate by June 30. If it keeps him in place, three current SandRidge board members will have to leave and an additional nominee by TPG-Axon will join, giving the activist investor a majority of the seats on the board.

If Mr. Ward is terminated, current chief financial officer James Bennett will become interim chief executive and the board will conduct a search for a successor.

A spokesman for SandRidge did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The board's decision will come after a review of the company's strategy and costs, including an independent firm's review of land deals the company entered with entities controlled by relatives of Mr. Ward, according to the settlement announced last week.

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Total Sells 25% of Tempa Rossa Field to Mitsui

France's Total announced Monday that it is selling a 25-percent interest in the Tempa Rossa field, onshore southern Italy, to Mitsui E&P Italia.

Total will retain a 50-percent holding, as well as operatorship, of the concession, which is located in the Basilicata region. Shell holds the remaining 25 percent.

The Tempa Rossa field is scheduled to come on stream in early 2016, when it is expected to produce 50,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak, as well as 1.4 million cubic feet of gas per day, significantly boosting Italian oil production.

"We are very pleased with this transaction, which further strengthens the ties between Total and Mitsui," Olivier de Langavant, senior vice president for Strategy, Business, Development and R&D at Total, said in a company statement.

"It is another step toward achieving the asset disposal objectives announced by Total for the period 2012-2014."

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Total Sells 25% of Tempa Rossa Field to Mitsui

France's Total announced Monday that it is selling a 25-percent interest in the Tempa Rossa field, onshore southern Italy, to Mitsui E&P Italia.

Total will retain a 50-percent holding, as well as operatorship, of the concession, which is located in the Basilicata region. Shell holds the remaining 25 percent.

The Tempa Rossa field is scheduled to come on stream in early 2016, when it is expected to produce 50,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak, as well as 1.4 million cubic feet of gas per day, significantly boosting Italian oil production.

"We are very pleased with this transaction, which further strengthens the ties between Total and Mitsui," Olivier de Langavant, senior vice president for Strategy, Business, Development and R&D at Total, said in a company statement.

"It is another step toward achieving the asset disposal objectives announced by Total for the period 2012-2014."

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Repsol Sells Stake to Temasek Holdings

Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings said Monday it acquired 5% of Repsol SA for 1.04 billion euros ($1.35 billion), as part of a strategy to increase its exposure to the energy sector.

The share sale further boosts Repsol's balance sheet, following an agreement last week to sell most of its liquefied natural gas assets to Royal Dutch Shell PLC for $4.4 billion in cash, plus the assumption of $2.3 billion in debt.

Repsol, the Spanish oil group, is selling off assets and paying down debt as it strives to protect its investment-grade credit rating, which was hurt by the nationalization of its controlling stake in Argentine energy company YPF SA last year. Its credit rating is on the brink of junk status.

The deal announced Monday builds on an existing stake to make Temasek the fourth-largest shareholder in Repsol, with a total holding of 6.3%. Spain's Caixabank SA is Repsol's largest shareholder with a 12.98% stake. Mexican national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos and Spanish construction firm Sacyr Vallehermoso SA hold stakes of around 9.5% each in Repsol.

It is the Singaporean fund's largest investment in Spain to date and one of its biggest in the energy sector. Temasek, which owns a $157 billion securities portfolio, doubled the size of the energy sector in its portfolio to 6% in the year to March 2012.

The energy sector is a good proxy for the needs of transforming economies with growing middle-income populations, both of which are part of Temasek's investment approach, said Tay Sulian, managing director of investment at Temasek. "We will continue to look for good, long-term investments in the energy space," he said.

The share sale represents "important international backing of our growth strategy," said Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau.

Monday's deal allows Repsol to unwind a transaction it had made in December 2011 when it used its own cash to purchase a 10% stake from Sacyr, a debt-laden builder that was being forced by its creditors to cut its stake in Repsol from 20% to raise cash.

The 64.7 million Repsol shares sold Monday were bought by Temasek at EUR16.01 each. Repsol had sold the other 5% it acquired from Sacyr to several institutional shareholders in January 2012 at EUR22.35 apiece. Since then, Repsol's shares have declined because of the YPF nationalization.

P.R. Venkat in Singapore contributed to this article.

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BG Group Sells Texas Cotton Valley Assets

BG Group announced it signed a sale and purchase agreement with EXCO Resources for the divestment of all its interests in the shallow, non-core, conventional producing assets and acreage in the Cotton Valley formation for a consideration of $132.5 million.

These assets, covering approximately 54,165 net leasehold acres across East Texas and North Louisiana, are not required to be held by BG Group in order to hold, drill and produce the undeveloped Haynesville/Bossier formation shale reserves which lie beneath the Cotton Valley formation.

Closing of this transaction is expected in the first quarter of 2013.

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