NORTH-EAST oil and gas boss Tom Cross, chief executive of Parkmead Group, said last night he was actively working on two new deals in the North Sea.
He also said Parkmead had £15million readily available to spend in its pursuit of value-adding acquisitions, while agreed bank facilities meant it had access to tens of millions of pounds more.
It is less than a fortnight since Aberdeen-based energy investment and advisory firm Parkmead announced it had acquired a 15% stake in three blocks in the southern North Sea from XTO UK, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.
They included the Platypus gas field, discovered last year by operator and 45% stakeholder Dana Petroleum, and the neighbouring Possum prospect. Speaking after annual results from Parkmead yesterday, Mr Cross – Dana’s former chief executive – said he was now focused on further deals in the UK and Dutch sectors of the North Sea.
He added: “This is an area we made a lot of money from at Dana.”
Parkmead has its longer-term sights on acquisition opportunities in Africa as Mr Cross tries to replicate the success he achieved at Dana, which had operations in 11 countries during his time at the helm.
Mr Cross quit Aberdeen-based Dana last November after a £1.67billion buyout by South Korea’s national oil company.
Other senior bosses from Dana followed him to Parkmead, which moved its headquarters to the Granite City from London at the end of 2009 after buying Aberdeen University spinout company Aupec.
Parkmead’s results for the year to June 30 showed a 58% jump in revenue, to £3.75million. Pre-tax losses widened to £3.45million, from £1.41million a year earlier, after “substantial investment” in the firm’s growth.
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