Chemicals giant Ineos has bought 12 North Sea gas fields.
Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman had initially bought the fields but was forced to sell them by the British Government when it ruled it was not in the UK’s interests to have them at risk of sanctions against Russians.
Ineos moved in to buy its first oil and gas asset, which is now subject to competition clearance from the European Commission, and it is understood the firm wants to expand further into the industry.
The fields, which are positioned off the east coast of Scotland and the north east of England, provide up to 8% of the UK’s gas, enough to warm one in 10 British homes.
Ineos operates Scotland’s largest manufacturing complex at Grangemouth, which is the only refining and petrochemicals complex directly attached to the North Sea.
