A subsidiary of Houston-based Helix Energy Solutions agreed to sell a 30% working interest in its Gulf of Mexico Danny Noonan discoveries on Garden Banks blocks 463, 506 and 507, as well as other Outer Continental Shelf assets on East Cameron blocks 371 and 381, to a private independent in two separate transactions for a total of $165 million. Additional cash payments of up to $20 million may be paid to Energy Resource Technology GOM Inc. based upon certain field production milestones, Helix said. The new partner also will pay a 30% share of all future capital expenditures related to the exploration and development of these fields. Most of the transaction already has been funded, and the parties expect to complete the sale by the end of April. “As we have stated, our intention during 2008 is to unlock a portion of the value in our oil and gas portfolio through the monetization of certain reserves,” said Helix CEO Owen Kratz. “These sales are the first of such efforts that we believe will allow us to demonstrate the value created through our unique two-stranded approach to oil and gas exploration and production and will allow us to recover previously invested capital, reduce future capital expenditure requirements related to these developments and reduce the profit deferral in our services division associated with the development work.”

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