CELEX: 32019M9579
Language: en
Date: 2019-11-18 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 18/11/2019 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9579 - ENI / HITECVISION / NORWEGIAN UPSTREAM ASSETS OF EXXONMOBIL) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 18.11.2019
                                                                C(2019) 8385 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9579 – ENI / HITECVISION / NORWEGIAN UPSTREAM
                ASSETS OF EXXONMOBIL
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                                       1
                (EC) No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                                    2
                Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 24 October 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the
        undertakings Eni International BV ("Eni BV", The Netherlands), belonging to the Eni
        Group (“Eni”, Italy) and HitecVision Advisory AS ("HitecVision", Norway) acquire
        indirectly, through their joint venture company Vår Energi AS, within the meaning of
        Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of ExxonMobil’s
        (the United States) oil and gas upstream business in the Norwegian Continental Shelf
        (“the Target Business”) by way of purchase of shares and assets.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
             Eni is a global oil and gas group, active within exploration, production, refining
              and selling operations, electricity and chemistry,
             HitecVision is a Norwegian provider of institutional capital to the North Sea
              region's energy industry with focus on investments in enterprises within the
              offshore upstream oil and gas industry, including the oilfield services and
              technology sector,
1       OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on
        the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) has introduced certain changes, such as the
        replacement of ‘Community’ by ‘Union’ and ‘common market’ by ‘internal market’. The terminology
        of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.
2       OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).
3       Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 371, 4.11.2019, p. 16.
Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE
Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË
Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.
 ---pagebreak---        The Target Business consists of ExxonMobil’s upstream Norwegian activities of
        exploration and production of crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs and their sale,
        including ExxonMobil’s production licenses, ownership interests, onshore
        processing facilities, pipeline interests and supply agreements with third parties,
        as well as the management and employees involved in these activities.
3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that
   the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of
   paragraph 5(c) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of
   certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.4
4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European
   Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it
   compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is
   adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of
   the EEA Agreement.
                                                     For the Commission
                                                     (Signed)
                                                     Cecilio MADERO VILLAREJO
                                                     Acting Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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