Sat 3 Apr 2021 02.00 EDT
Millions of people who were already having to contend with higher gas and electricity bills as a result of working from home will see their charges rise by a further £96 a year from this week, adding a total of about £1bn to bills. But by switching, you can easily save £250 a year or more.
On Thursday, households signed up to their suppliersâ standard tariff had their energy bills increase by more than 9% after the energy regulator, Ofgem, increased its cap â the highest price that suppliers can charge.
The move, which affects more than half of all households in Great Britain, adds about £96 a year to average dual-fuel bills paid by direct debit, assuming you are on a default standard tariff. Anyone choosing quarterly bills will pay about £100 more a year.
The flurry of deals has even prompted analysts at consultancy Wood Mackenzie to describe the UK North Sea as “one of the hottest markets globally”, buoyed by the recent recovery in prices.
Neivan Boroujerdi, WoodMac’s principal analyst for Europe upstream said the “blockbuster” start to the year has seen spending reach $2.7 billion, already surpassing last year’s total.
“Despite the UK’s maturity, the deals highlight the attractiveness of the country’s relatively low headline tax rate, which enables assets to generate significant free cash flow at current prices,” Boroujerdi said.
WoodMac estimates another $5 billion-worth of assets could change hands this year.
UK North Sea consolidation gathers pace
Two more deals see focused new entrants gain size as sellers exit
The UK continental shelf (UKCS) is considerably less consolidated than its counterpart on the Norwegian side of the maritime border. But M&A trends are seeing continued growth of players with narrow focus on the basin, while those for whom the UKCS is just one part of a portfolio step back.
The latest transactions have seen further expansion of the footprints of two Norwegian-backed firms Neo Energy, a vehicle of private equity (PE) firm HitecVision, and Waldorf Production, led by Erik Brodahl, another Norwegian oil and gas PE veteran. Neo is buying UK independent Zennor Petroleum for up to $625mn, including deferred and contingent payments, marking the North Sea exit of Zennor’s PE bac
NEO to Buy Zennor for up to $625MM rigzone.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rigzone.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.