Statoil has indicated that it will realise a net gain in the region of only €76 million from the sale of its Irish business to Topaz, the private consortium that bought Shell's Irish unit last year.

In quarterly results published yesterday, the Norwegian oil and gas group did not outline the net price paid by Topaz.

While Statoil did not detail how the "gain" of 600 million Norwegian crowns (€76.36 million) from the transaction was calculated, the sum is assumed to reflect the surplus over the net book value of the business at the time of the deal.

The group said completion of the deal was expected in the third quarter of this year. "The resulting gain from this transaction is estimated to be NOK 600 million and will be included in the manufacturing and marketing segment when the transaction is closed.

The basis for the calculation of the gain related to the transaction is not finalised and will be affected by the operations and currency changes until closing," it said.

Statoil's gain from the deal is considerably less than the price tag of some €280 million that was mooted around the time of the transaction in June. However, Topaz chairman Neil O'Leary said afterwards that the real figure was "significantly less" than that.

Some sources contend that the actual price may have been in the region of €140 million, a sum which is said by others to understate the value.

When combined with the Shell business, the Statoil network gives Topaz direct control of more than 100 filling stations and distribution agreements with another 300 dealer-owned stations.

In its results yesterday, Statoil reported a 36 per cent rise in second-quarter operating profit to 29.78 billion crowns in the three months to June from 21.89 billion in the same period last year.