Sterling Resources welcomes new Breagh partner

Sterling Resources, a Canadian-listed energy company with assets in the UK North Sea, has welcomed Ineos’ acquisition of the North Sea gas field from Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s LetterOne group.

The assets include an operated 70 percent interest in the producing Breagh field, of which Sterling holds the remaining 30 percent.

The purchase by Ineos brings an end to an extended period of uncertainty going back to September 2014 when RWE AG, the German utility company, announced that it was not certain whether a comfort letter would be received from DECC, the UK oil & gas regulator, in order for it to close its intended sale of the Assets to L1.

In March 2015, after RWE had completed the sale to L1, DECC announced that the UK Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change required LetterOne to sell the assets.

“We welcome Ineos’ purchase of the L1 assets and look forward to working closely with them to optimise the remaining development of the Breagh gas field,” said Jake Ulrich, Sterling’s CEO. He continued: “The uncertainty over the future ownership of Breagh has adversely impacted both Sterling’s ability to refinance our $180 million of bond debt and the level and number of offers received in our process to sell or merge the Company, or to sell part of Breagh. The announcement by Ineos is therefore excellent news for all stakeholders. We are continuing to move forward with a refinancing and will seek better offers from existing bidders, as well as new offers from other potential bidders.”