An American oil and gas company has bought North Sea assets from ExxonMobil worth $1.75bn (£1.1bn).

The deal between ExxonMobil and Apache Corporation, which includes the Beryl field, will increase the American company's North Sea production by 54% and its reserves by about 44%.

The announcement of the deal comes after several of the world's major oil companies have put some of their North Sea oil fields up for sale to concentrate on larger developments elsewhere in the world.

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ExxonMobil said it was selling its interest in four blocks in the North Sea as part of plans by the world's largest public company to shed peripheral properties and that they still maintain an interest in about 40 fields in the area and would continue other joint ventures there.

Apache said the assets were the best it had seen in the North Sea since it bought the Forties field in 2003 and its newly acquired fields will produce 19,000 barrels of oil and 58 million cubic feet of gas a day.

Apache Corporation's chairman and chief executive, G. Steven Farris, said: "Over the past eight years, Apache has demonstrated the ability to increase the efficiency of mature North Sea assets, find new reserves to extend field life, and operate in a safe and environmentally responsible manner."

(JG/BMcC)