SCOTTISH oil and gas operator Cairn Energy added to its interests in the North Atlantic yesterday by taking full control of exploration subsidiary Capricorn, which owns large oil blocks offshore Greenland.
Cairn said it would buy a 9.99% stake in Capricorn owned by Dyas, part of family-owned Dutch group SHV, for £57.5million made up of 1.8million Cairn shares plus cash. As part of the deal, Capricorn will also give Dyas 15% of its interests in Tunisia and Albania.
Greenland has been attracting strong interest from oil companies in recent years, despite it having no tradition in oil production and harsh conditions for exploration.
Capricorn has already carried out a pre-exploration programme in Greenland. In October, Cairn farmed out a minority interest in its Greenland acreage to Petronas.
Cairn chief executive Sir Bill Gammell said: “Dyas were early strategic investors in Capricorn at a time when it was envisaged that Capricorn would potentially demerge from the Cairn Group. Given the materiality of our exploration position in Greenland to the group as a whole, there is no longer an intention to demerge Capricorn.”
Cairn shares moved 40p higher to £30.80.