TotalEnergies to merge North Sea assets with Neo Next
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Monday 08 Dec 2025
(Sharecast News) - TotalEnergies is to merge its North Sea upstream business with Neo Next, the French oil and gas firm announced on Monday.
Under the terms of the deal, TotalEnergies will take a 47.5% stake in the enlarged business - to be called Neo Next+ - with Norwegian private equity firm HitecVision owning 28.9% and Repsol UK the rest.
Neo Next is currently owned by HitecVision and Spain's Repsol.
The deal will create the region's largest independent producer by volume, generating roughly 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2026.
TotalEnergies' North Sea fields already produce around a quarter of the UK's gas.
Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of TotalEnergies, said the deal demonstrated the company's "long-lasting commitment...towards the UK oil and gas sector".
He continued: "TotalEnergies' consistent focus on running low-cost and low-emissions operations will be instrumental in delivering material economies of scale within the new portfolio of Neo Next+, that will enhance the cash flow generation of the company as soon as it is closed."
The transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, is expect to complete in the first half of 2026.
There has been a string of deals in the North Sea in recent years, in large part due to the heavy tax burden placed on operators by successive UK governments.
A windfall tax on profits was introduced in 2022 by the then Conservative chancellor, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent oil and gas prices soaring.
It has been increased and extended since then however, and in last month's Budget, the government confirmed it would run until 2030.
The tax burden currently stands at a cumulative 78%, although some of that can be offset against previous losses, which in turn has incentivised the consolidation of assets.
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