Ineos expands North Sea oil and gas operations

Petrochemicals firm Ineos is expanding its upstream oil and gas extraction operations by acquiring Danish firm Dong Energy’s entire oil and gas business for $1 billion (£825 million), plus a possible $250 million in contingency payments. The company will also buy BP’s Forties pipeline and Kinneil terminal in Scotland for up to $250 million.

The moves continue Ineos’s plan of expanding its oil and gas exploration and extraction activities, as its efforts to develop UK shale gas are moving slowly. The move bolsters feedstock supplies for Ineos’s refineries in Grangemouth, UK, and Rafnes, Norway, which also process ethane shipped from US shale reserves.

Ineos will gain 440 employees from Dong Energy, along with a mixture of oilfield assets that are already in production and others that are identified for development.