27 March 2024 , 10:05
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Ithaca Energy, the company behind the controversial Cambo and Rosebank oil fields, is considering a deal with Italy's giant, Eni, that would see the oil giant major almost 40% of it.
In addition to this, Ithaca would manage Eni's UK operations, rocketing it to the second biggest individual operator in the UK. The agreement would see Ithacan take control of assets that make around 40,000 to 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent every day from Eni.
As a swap, Eni would become a major stakeholder in Ithaca, holding between 38% and 39% of it. This would catapult Ithaca's total output to above 100,000 barrels per day, marking it as the second biggest player in the UK olding stakes in six out of the ten largest oil and gas fields on the UK continental shelf.
As of now, Ithaca and Eni have agreed to an exclusivity agreement, meaning they have a month to decide if they wish to proceed.n "Eni has granted Ithaca Energy exclusivity in respect of the assets, the subject of the potential combination, for a period of four weeks from the date of this announcement," said a statement from Ithaca.
Ithaca currently holds a majority of the Cambo site and bought a 20% chunk of Rosebank in 2022. Last September, alongside Norway's Equinor, Ithaca invested $3.8billion (£3billion) into the development of Rosebank. A final decision about Cambo is still to come.
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The decision to proceed with the Rosebank project has sparked controversy, as critics highlight the International Energy Agency's (IEA) roadmap for global climate goals, which calls for no new oil and gas projects. Detractors argue that Rosebank could produce about 500 million barrels of oil, equivalent to running 56 coal-fired power plants for a year, according to one Tory MP.
Ithaca announced on Wednesday that it produced 70,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day last year, with a third being gas and two-thirds liquids. However, they expect production to drop to between 56,000 and 61,000 in 2024, partly due to delayed investment caused by the windfall tax on oil and gas companies.