One of the North Sea's biggest dealmakers has turned his attention to Africa and South America amid concerns about the "unstable" fiscal regime in the UK.
Samos Energy, the investment firm co-founded by Jacques Tohme last year, is looking to spend $1billion on exploration and production abroad after the windfall tax and "lack of engagement" from HM Treasury eroded his confidence in Britain.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is being urged to scrap or urgently reform the windfall tax in his Autumn Budget amid growing evidence that it is choking investment in the UKCS.
The plan marks a departure for Mr Tohme from the UK North Sea, where his firm Tailwind Energy accumulated fields before its sale to Serica Energy Plc earlier this year.
“The UK Treasury has become very unstable and lacks engagement with the industry,” Mr Tohme said.
Samos Energy, which made its first acquisition in July — a clutch of offshore production vessels currently chartered in Southeast Asia — will look again to that region for further investments. It will also focus on developed basins in Africa and South America, with any purchases “direct” or debt-funded.
“As global energy systems get dramatically rewired and decarbonised, Samos Energy is positioned to acquire and harvest mature assets, primarily in emerging markets,” Tohme said in a statement.
Mr Tohme has over 20 years’ experience in private equity, investment banking and CFO roles focused on the energy sector.
He co-founded Tailwind Energy in 2016 and served as its CFO since inception until sale to Serica Energy in March.
During his time at Tailwind, he led over $1billion in acquisition and growth financings for M&A and development.
The UK introduced the Energy Profits Levy on oil and gas companies last year as their earnings were increasingly at odds with the cost-of-living crisis hurting consumers.
The move mostly affected smaller, North Sea-focused exploration and production firms, some of which had to cut back investments.
Apache, Harbour, Total Energies and Serica have all warned that investment is being placed on hold due to the tax.