Shell is selling part of its assets in the US Gulf of Mexico to Houston-based Talos Energy and investment firm Ridgewood Energy. The deal is valued at $1.7 billion.

Under the agreement, Shell will transfer its 25% stake in the Na Kika platform, operated by BP, as well as half of its interest in the Coulomb project. Once the transaction is complete, Talos will become the operator of Coulomb. The Na Kika deal also includes stakes in four associated fields: Kepler, Ariel, Fourier, and Herschel.

Both Talos and Ridgewood will each pay $850 million. Talos plans to finance its acquisition through a combination of its own funds and borrowed capital, including $150 million in new commitments from lenders.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026. The Na Kika agreement includes a 30-day approval period from BP. If BP declines to sell, Talos and Ridgewood will only acquire the stake and operatorship in the Coulomb project. Shell will retain marketing rights for production from both Na Kika and Coulomb.

In the first quarter of this year, the assets involved in the deal produced about 16,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with approximately 77% being oil. As a result of the transaction, Talos’s portfolio will increase by roughly 23 million barrels of proven reserves and 10 million barrels of probable oil equivalent reserves.

Greenhill, an affiliate of Mizuho, served as Talos’s financial advisor for the deal.

Additionally, Talos has completed planned work on the Genovesa well in the US Gulf of Mexico and resumed production at the site at the end of the second quarter of 2026. The well had been shut down at the end of last year due to technical issues with a valve.