ITHACA Energy has revealed it is now producing oil from its flagship Stella development in the central North Sea – days after it agreed to a $1.24 billion (£1bn) bid from Israel’s Delek Group, writes Scott Wright.

The development is a significant milestone for the company, which had originally hoped to bring the field into production in late 2014.

Ithaca’s attempts to start production were held up by delays in work in Poland on the production vessel that is being used in the field. The company said the export of oil to the shuttle tanker has commenced. It signalled that the production ramp-up phase will begin when work to commission gas processing the compression facilities is complete.

Delek’s 120p a share offer for Ithaca, which was unanimously recommended to shareholders by the board, highlighted renewed interest in the central North Sea among international investors amid the partial recovery of crude oil prices.