By Jonathan Davies
French oil giant Total has sold a 20% stake in its North Sea gasfield to SSE for nearly $900 million.
SSE will pay $881.57m (£565m) for the stake in the Laggan-Tormore gasfield near the Shetlands.
Total also said it was in talks to sell other assets.
The news of the deal comes as Total reported better-than-expected profits in the second quarter. The French firm posted profits of $3.085bn, a 2% drop on the same period a year ago, but that was a slower decline that expected.
Continually falling oil prices were forecast to have a bigger impact on Total's figure, having lost more than half their value in the past year.
