Ag News Briefs
Quick Hits on Issues Affecting Ag From Around the World
The following are news briefs on issues affecting agriculture from around the nation and world.
(LAST UPDATED: 8/21/2017 AT 11:38 A.M.)
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Total Expands in North Sea With Purchase of Maersk Oil
(AP) -- French oil company Total agreed Monday to buy the oil & gas division of Danish conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk for $7.45 billion, in a deal that will shore up its position in the deep waters of the North Sea.
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Total said its purchase of Maersk Oil will position it as the No. 2 operator in the North Sea, which is the seventh-largest oil-and-gas producing region in the world. It said it will uphold Maersk Oil's development schedules and investments in a series of projects, and that Denmark will become the regional hub for all its operations in Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands.
As part of the deal, Maersk will get $4.95 billion worth of Total shares, which is equivalent to around 3.8 percent of Total's share capital. The French company, which will also assume some $2.5 billion worth of Maersk Oil debt, said the deal underpins its dividend profile.
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(AP) -- Lithuania has taken delivery of its first shipment of liquefied natural gas from the United States, a milestone that the Baltic state hopes will further reduce its reliance on Russia.
Independence, the U.S.-based tanker, docked Monday in the port of Klaipeda to offload some 150,000 cubic meters (200 cubic yards) of gas at a fully functioning offshore terminal that is capable of covering most of Lithuania's annual energy needs.
Energy Minister Zygymantas Vaiciunas said the U.S. is already the country's most-important strategic partner and now becomes "a reliable LNG supplier for the whole region."
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