North Sea oil stakes up for sale

Bids for stakes worth up to $100m (£68m) in North Sea oil fields were due last Friday.

Antrim Energy, a Canadian and London-listed oil producer, is selling half its stakes in the Fyne and Causeway fields, both of which it operates. It owns about 65.5 per cent of Causeway and three-quarters of Fyne. Boutique investment bank Stellar Energy is running the sale. "The information memorandum nicknames the sale 'Fyne and dandy'," said an energy sector source.

Antrim is seeking regulatory approval to develop the Causeway field. Initially, it will produce about 15,000 barrels of oil a day. Antrim will submit a development plan for the Fyne field this summer. The company is one of several in the oil and gas sector tunder attack from shareholders for offering directors and senior staff options on shares while they are at historically low levels. The staff will be able to sell on the stock at a profit from 2012, should the market recover.