Ineos Buys 21% Stake in Three Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Assets from Shell

Ineos acquired a 21% stake in three Gulf of Mexico oil and gas assets alongside Shell, the company announced on Tuesday. Ineos did not disclose how much it bought the 21% stake for. The three oil and gas sites are located 80 miles off the Louisiana coast.

Ineos and Shell will seek to develop the Fort Sumter discovery, which is estimated to contain over 125 million barrels of oil equivalent. Ineos Energy will launch more exploration projects in the area before 2030. The announcement confirms Ineos's plans to expand its oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico as the company has committed over $3 billion to its US operations.

Jim Ratcliffe said Europe and the UK’s approach to energy policy is “all over the place” and is eroding the region’s security and growth prospects. “Growth in an economy is highly correlated to competitive energy prices and it is a huge issue for national security,” he said. Ratcliffe added that from an investment point of view, one always goes to the stable rather than the unstable.

“I would have a lot more confidence in investments in America in the energy sector than I would in Europe,” he said. The statements accompanied the announcement of Ineos’s fresh investment in the US alongside Shell. The deal comes despite the UK government injecting £105 million into Ineos’s Grangemouth plant in December.

That investment saved hundreds of jobs, ministers said at the time. Jim Ratcliffe, who owns Manchester United, has repeatedly criticized British and EU policymakers for high energy costs and excess regulation. Ineos’s debt pile topped $18 billion at the end of last year.

5 times more than its annual earnings at the end of last year. Moody’s has downgraded Ineos’s debt twice since September. com reported that the stinging broadside against Europe comes as Ineos’s energy division works with Shell to seek untapped reserves on the shelf off Louisiana.

The company is shifting focus away from upstream operations in Europe and the UK while overseeing a major disposal programme to shore up its balance sheet.