UK-headquartered Ithaca Energy, an oil and gas operator and producer, has set the stage to move beyond the North Sea to expand its footprint into the North Atlantic through a multimillion-dollar cash agreement to snap up Suncor Energy’s Canadian offshore oil assets, making its first international splash and adding high-margin barrels and a new springboard for North American growth.
Ithaca Energy has announced a deal to acquire Suncor’s conventional offshore East Coast oil assets for upfront cash consideration of $860 million, alongside potential oil price-related contingent consideration of up to $250 million based on a sharing factor of 50%, subject to customary adjustments based on an economic effective date of July 1, 2026.
The company expects to fully finance the transaction through cash in hand, utilization of its borrowing base facility, and secured in-country financing. The additional $250 million of contingent consideration is linked to Brent crude oil prices over a 27-month period commencing July 1, 2026, which would be funded from Ithaca Energy’s free cash flow.
This move will diversify and enrich the UK operator’s portfolio by adding a 48% operated working interest in Terra Nova, a 40% non-operated interest in the White Rose Existing Lands, and a 38.6% non-operated interest in the White Rose Growth Lands, including the West White Rose Extension, collectively known as White Rose assets in Canadian waters.
While Terra Nova is a producing, operated shallow-water oil asset supported by a recently completed floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) asset life extension project, White Rose, which is operated by Cenovus Energy, has high margins with substantial near-term production growth expected from West White Rose, where first production is anticipated in Q4 2026.
The Terra Nova oil field is situated on the Grand Banks, 350 kilometers southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The field started production in 2002, using the FPSO Terra Nova.
Yaniv Friedman, Executive Chairman of Ithaca Energy, commented: “This acquisition marks the next era of growth for Ithaca Energy as we make our inaugural international acquisition in offshore East Coast Canada.
“The transaction delivers on our clear stated growth strategy as we seek to diversify and grow our production and resource base and replicate our success in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) through disciplined international expansion in regions we believe we can create long-term value for our shareholders.”
With this acquisition, Ithaca Energy builds scale and diversification over two key operating hubs, with incremental average 2P production of around 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) between 2027 and 2031, with peak 2P production of 35-40,000 boe/d in 2029, supporting its medium-term growth outlook of 140-150,000 boe/d.
The transaction, which is expected to be immediately cash flow and dividend accretive, positions the company as the fifth largest operator offshore Canada by production, establishing a strong platform in the region for further inorganic growth in North America, with focus on adding premium northern-OECD barrels.
Ithaca’s acquisition of these long-life assets will add 2P reserves of 103 million boe at approximately $8/boe, with substantial additional remaining resource volumes of around 200 million boe providing further investment optionality with significant resources advancing toward the final investment decision (FID) phase, offering material organic growth optionality.
The completion of the acquisition is targeted for H1 2027, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory and government approvals in Canada.