Ineos completes North Sea fields buy (UK)

Swiss company Ineos has completed the purchase of the UK North Sea natural gas assets of DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, owned by L1 Energy which is in turn owned by the Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman.

Ineos agreed to buy DEA’s North Sea assets in October 2015.

The transaction includes interests in the Breagh and Clipper South gas fields in the Southern North Sea. The annual production from the fields acquired in this deal account for 8% of the UK’s annual gas production, enough gas to warm 1 in 10 British homes.

According to Ineos, the platforms, infrastructure and the team that runs them will form part of the new Ineos Breagh business division that will be based in London.

Geir Tuft, CEO of Ineos Breagh says, “We are pleased to have completed the deal to acquire this strong portfolio of natural gas assets and bring on board a highly successful and experienced North Sea industry team.”

Breagh is located in the southern North Sea, 65 kilometres off the north-eastern coast of England (UKCS blocks 42/12a and 42/13a). Gas production from the field started in October 2013.

The Clipper South Gas field lies in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) blocks 48/19 and 48/20, 100 kilometres east of the Lincolnshire coast. In 2013, the first Clipper South well came on stream at initial rates of 1.2 million cubic metres per day. The field is being developed by drilling up to five horizontal multi-fractured wells.

As part of its growing interest in energy production, Ineos says it is now evaluating additional opportunities offshore.

Ineos has set up a new oil and gas subsidiary and is working with a number of North Sea oil and gas professionals. The group will continue to review potential opportunities in the North Sea to assess their suitability in the development of the business, Ineos concluded.