LONDON (Reuters) - Africa-focused oil and gas explorer Tullow Oil L:TLW has sold majority stakes in two UK North Sea gas assets to Faroe Petroleum L:FPM for $75.6 million (44.9 million pounds) and said it was looking for buyers of other North Sea assets.
The decision to sell its Schooner and Ketch North Sea gas fields nearly 10 years after acquiring them from Shell L:RDSa and Exxon Mobil N:XOM is underlining Tullow Oil's strategy to focus on oil producing assets in new markets.
Faroe Petroleum will take over operatorship of the Schooner and Ketch fields, of which it will own 53.1 percent and 60 percent respectively.
"We have a clear strategy of constant and active portfolio management and have focused our business on conventional light oil," said Tullow Oil Chief Executive Aidan Heavey.
The London-listed company, which halted its Mauritania drilling programme last week, has suffered a string of disappointing exploration results and is under pressure to restore its reputation.
Its flagship Jubilee field offshore Ghana is one of the projects Tullow Oil is counting on to turn its fortunes. The field is on track to produce an average 100,000 barrels of oil per day this year, despite issues with an onshore processing facility.
The company, a member of the blue chip FTSE 100 index N:FTSE, also said on Wednesday it is maintaining its 2014 production target at between 79,000 and 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
(Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by Jason Neely and David Holmes)