Ineos in £1bn oil buyout

PETROCHEMICALS giant Ineos is expanding its North Sea presence after buying the oil and gas assets of Danish group Dong Energy in a deal worth up to £1billion.

Last year, Dong’s wells across Danish, Norwegian and British fields produced 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and potentially contain 570 million barrels.

Ineos said the deal makes it the biggest private operator in the North Sea.

It recently bought BP’s Forties Pipeline linking 85 assets to the UK and its Grangemouth refinery.