LONDON (Reuters) - Spirit Energy, backed by Centrica <CNA.L>, agreed to invest almost $400 million (309.55 million pounds) in exchange for 50 percent of Hurricane Energy's <HUR.L> Greater Warwick Area (GWA) North Sea oil project, Hurricane said on Monday.
The deal aims to confirm 500 million barrels of reserves in the area off Britain's Shetland Islands which would be a major boost for the North Sea basin.
Hurricane specialises in recovering oil from fractures in hard and brittle rock such as granite known as fractured basement reservoirs.
Hurricane and Spirit, which will operate the fields, target first oil from the GWA project by 2020 and a final investment decision for the first phase of full field development by 2021.
Centrica owns 69 percent of Spirit Energy, whose other shareholders comprise Stadtwerke München and Bayerngas GmbH.
(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; editing by Jason Neely)
