Tuesday 4 July 2017

EU clears INEOS’ buyout of DONG’s oil and gas business

The European Commission has approved the takeover of DONG’s oil and gas business by UK petrochemicals giant INEOS.

It comes after the Danish firm agreed to sell its oil and gas exploration and production unit for $1.05 billion (£810m).

That includes a mix of long life and development fields, producing an average of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) each day in the North Sea alone.

It also includes around 570 million boe of oil and gas reserves in Denmark, Norway and the UK.

The deal is expected to position INEOS as a top 10 company in the North Sea and significantly expand its trading and shipping activities.

The Commission found the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns “given that the companies’ activities overlap to a limited extent and that a number of alternative suppliers would remain in the market after the merger”.