Oil baron Algy Cluff snaps up three North Sea oil licenses for £1 each
Oil baron Algy Cluff has taken stakes in three North Sea oil projects for just £1 each.
Cluff Natural Resources has acquired up to a 25 per cent interest in three North Sea oil projects operated by Parkmead Group. It estimates that they could contain 400m barrels of recoverable oil.
Cluff recently told City PM that the oil price had finally hit a bottom and would soon start to recover, even warning it could rebound with a vengeance. Brent crude has risen about 50 per cent since falling to multi-year lows in January.
"We are delighted to have been able to take advantage of the current circumstances in the North Sea which have seen a number of very high quality exploration and appraisal assets become available at low or even no cost," Cluff, who is chief executive of Cluff Natural Resources, said in a statement.
Oil prices falling from around $110 in June 2014 to just $40 today has heaped pressure on North Sea oil companies' balance sheets. This has also hit the value of their assets, making them a lot cheaper for prospective buyers.
Shares in Cluff Natural Resources closed up 6.67 per cent to 2p per share.