Interest from buyers in energy firm ‘inevitable’

Upcoming North Sea projects tipped to raise Parkmead’s profile

Energy firm Parkmead Group will inevitably show up on the radars of prospective buyers if its current growth path continues, its boss said yesterday.

Executive chairman Tom Cross said the Aberdeen firm’s upcoming UK North Sea projects would prove the firm is “high quality”.

But he also said his team would not worry about potential partnerships and takeovers, and was focused on driving the company up the “value curve”.

Mr Cross built up Dana Petroleum into a successful exploration company before it was bought out by South Korea’s national oil firm in a hostile takeover in 2010.

The businessman collected more than £34 million from the sale of his stake, earning a reputation for being the North Sea’s “man with the Midas touch”.

Since then, he has led London-listed Parkmead, which he described as “Dana Mach 2, but stronger”.

He has a chart in his office comparing Parkmead’s growth to that of Dana in its early years.

Mr Cross said Parkmead was “tracking nicely” and “better balanced” than Dana, which sold for £1.7 billion.

Parkmead is focused on production from its

“backyards” in the UK and Netherlands, whereas Dana operated out of nine countries.

Mr Cross also feels Parkmead, whose fullyear results show rising revenues and a return to the black, is well-placed to thrive as the energy transition gathers pace.

For the past three years, Parkmead has only produced gas, which is a cleaner fuel than oil.

Another green touch recently saw it snap up £4.9m worth of Aberdeenshire farmland which had been majorityowned by Mr Cross’ wife.

Parkmead does have large North Sea oil projects in its portfolio and is determined to bring them to fruition.

With that in mind, the firm has hired its first dedicated North Sea managing director to spearhead those developments.

Tim Coxe had a stint working for Parkmead on the early stages of its Greater Perth Area (GPA) project in the outer Moray Firth a few years ago.

He has now returned to Parkmead, from Apache, and will take GPA through to project sanction, which is slated for spring or summer next year.

OUTLOOK: Parkmead Group is focused on production from its ‘backyards’ in the UK and Netherlands