Total’s North Sea sale

TOTAL is selling a third of its stake in the laggan-Tormore gas field along with other oil and gas assets in the North Sea for £1bn.

The sale could include stakes in a number of smaller fields the oil group bought as part of a £3.5bn deal to buy the oil and gas division of AP Moller-Maersk in 2017.

Those fields include Golden Eagle, in which Total has a 32pc stake, as well as Dumbarton, Bruce and Keith.

The sale is part of a broad change of guard in the aging North Sea where veteran players are seeking to dispose of older fields with declining production while new, nimbler companies believe they can squeeze out more value.