Equinor buys Suncor's BP assets for $1 billion

Norwegian oil and gas major Equinor is close to a deal to buy Canada's Suncor Energy's assets in the UK North Sea for about $1 billion.

Suncor Energy owns a 40% stake in the Equinor-operated Rosebank field near the Shetland Islands. Equinor and its partners are expected to make a final investment decision this year on the development of the field, which comes amid increased tax rates for UK North Sea operators and strong opposition from environmentalists to the development of Rosebank and other major North Sea oil and gas fields such as Cambo.

Canada's third largest energy company, Suncor, also holds a 29.9% stake in the Buzzard oilfield in the UK North Sea. Buzzard is the biggest supplier of Forties, one of the crude grades in the Brent crude benchmark.

Reuters sources said Equinor could incur tax losses from the acquisition of Suncor's assets, which could be used to offset future investments in the UK North Sea.

Suncor has sold upstream assets offshore Norway. Last August, Sval Energi acquired Suncor Energy's 17.5% ownership in the Fenja field, 30% ownership in the Oda field, and eight additional licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf.