Vaar Energi CEO says company focused on organic growth

OSLO (Reuters) -Vaar Energi, Eni’s Norwegian spin-off, is focused on organic growth opportunities, but does not exclude making value-adding acquisitions, the company’s chief executive said on Friday.

Vaar was listed on Euronext Oslo on Wednesday, with Eni and its Norwegian partner, private equity firm HitecVision, selling an 11% stake for 7.7 billion crowns ($862.46 million).

Speaking ahead of the company’s fourth-quarter results on March 1, Vaar CEO Torger Roed said the company was open to opportunities.

“We are more focused on organic than inorganic growth … We don’t have any concrete, tangible (M&A) plans, but if we see something that adds synergy, that adds value, we might do something,” Roed told reporters.

He added the company’s goal to increase its production to more than 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by the end of 2025, from around 247,000 boepd in the third quarter last year, was based on its existing pipeline of projects.

($1 = 8.9280 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Gwladys Fouche)