DNO Expands North Sea Portfolio with Acquisition of Sval Energi

Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO has brought Sval Energi, a compatriot company, into its fold, enlarging its North Sea portfolio and quadrupling its oil and gas production levels.

After disclosing its agreement to purchase 100% of the shares of Sval Energi from HitecVision in March 2025, DNO has now wrapped up this transaction for a cash consideration of $450 million based on an enterprise value of $1.6 billion.

Halvor Engebretsen, Sval Energi’s Chief Executive Officer, will lead the expanded North Sea business as Managing Director of DNO Norge.

Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO’s Executive Chairman, explained: “The Sval Energi assets provided a rare opportunity to significantly upsize DNO’s North Sea operations and, of course, DNO itself. And we moved quickly to seal the deal.”

With the closing of what the firm describes as a transformative North Sea acquisition, the enlarged portfolio will now include 16 additional producing fields in Norway, augmenting the Norwegian player’s North Sea production to 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

As a result, the firm’s North Sea proven and probable (2P) reserves swell to 189 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), which also signifies a fourfold increase. The firm’s contingent resources (2C) total 316 million boe.

In the aftermath of the Sval acquisition, Norway and the United Kingdom represent nearly 60% of DNO’s global production and about 45% of its global reserves, with the balance predominantly in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The company claims to be well placed to grow its North Sea production organically in the years ahead, thanks to ongoing field development projects with multiple discoveries currently being matured for project sanction.

Aside from ferreting out other acquisition targets, the Norwegian player is focused on accelerating development and monetization of its discoveries in Norway.

Mossavar-Rahmani added: “It takes most Norwegian oil companies a ridiculously long eight to ten years to bring a discovery to first production, even with simple subsea tiebacks to existing platforms.

“Compare that to the two to three years, if that, to execute this task in other established basins.”