Ineos makes a splash with North Sea buys

Pro-Brexit chemicals billionaire Jim Ratcliffe on Tuesday showed no desire to call a halt to his recent spending spree, making a move into deepwater oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.

Petrochemicals firm Ineos, founded by Ratcliffe, has agreed to buy a majority stake in two exploration licenses in areas far to the north of Shetland.

Ineos has bought these stakes from Aberdeen-based Siccar Point Energy which remains a minority owner.

The sites are thought to have strong prospects for gas reserves, and are in addition to stakes in gas fields Ratcliffe’s business has in the southern North Sea.

Ineos director Tom Crotty would not divulge a price, but said the deal was “substantial”.

He added: “This pushes us up to being a major operator in the North Sea.”

It is the latest in a flurry of Ineos transactions within the past month. The firm made a surprise move to buy fashion firm Belstaff, and then revealed it had bought Swiss football club Lausanne-Sport..