Cambo oilfield firm snapped up by Israel’s Delek Group in £1.2bn deal
The firm behind the controversial Cambo North Sea oilfield has been snapped up Israel’s Delek Group in a move that raises the prospects of the project going ahead.
Aberdeen-based Siccar Point, which owns the licence for Cambo along with Shell, has been bought for nearly $1.5bn (£1.2bn) by Delek Group via its UK North Sea production arm Ithaca Energy, a company formerly listed in Toronto and London but taken private by Delek in 2017.
The deal will see Ithaca initially pay $1.1bn for Siccar Point, with additional payments which could then reach a maximum of $360m.
In a statement yesterday, Ithaca bosses said Cambo gives the firm an opportunity to “develop fields that will contribute significantly to the UK’s energy security”.
“We’re definitely going to be looking into what it would take to develop Cambo with its partners,” said Gilad Myerson, executive chairman of Ithaca Energy.
“We will be talking to environmental groups, we’ll also be speaking to the regulators to make sure that if we do move ahead, we do so in full alignment with all stakeholders.”
Shell pulled out of the project in December for “economic” reasons amid growing backlash over oil projects in the wake of Cop 26, but energy supply shocks sparked by war in Ukraine have reportedly caused it to reconsider its position.
The British oil major has retained its stake in the licence.