Ithaca Energy has agreed to acquire Marubeni's oil and gas assets in the North Sea for about $1 billion, industry sources told Reuters on Sept. 13.

The owner Ithaca, Israeli energy company Delek Group, said last year it wanted to list the North Sea-focused energy company.

Several other Japanese energy and trading firms are also seeking to exit the ageing North Sea basin.

Ithaca Energy and Marubeni declined to comment.

Marubeni's main oil and gas asset in the North Sea is its 41.03% stake in the Montrose Area, which includes the Montrose, Arbroath, Arkwright, Brechin, Wood, Godwin, Shaw and Cayley fields, operated by Repsol Sinopec Resources U.K.

Ithaca, which produced about 56,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first half of 2021, said in August it had refinanced a $1.225 billion reserve based lending facility and placed a $625 million bond "to continue to pursue business growth ambitions".

Japan's JX Nippon also wants to sell its British North Sea oil and gas assets including stakes in some of the basin's biggest fields in a deal that could fetch up to $1.5 billion, sources said in May.

Offshore