TOM Cross is set to ramp up expansion at the Parkmead Group he runs by cutting more deals against a grim oil and gas industry backdrop after unveiling what looks likely to have been a cut price acquisition.

The oil and gas entrepreneur said the prolonged crude price slump is encouraging more firms to sell North Sea assets amid a growing acceptance that the downturn it has triggered could last some time.

“Six months ago several major companies had crazy high expectations in terms of price,” said Mr Cross. He added: ”People are starting to get realistic.”

Mr Cross was talking after Parkmead announced that it had acquired stakes in two big North Sea finds from Atlantic Petroleum, which decided to focus on other areas after incurring hefty losses last year.

Parkmead did not disclose the price it paid for the assets. However, analysts at the Panmure Gordon brokerage said: “We … expect that Parkmead will have achieved a good price from Atlantic, given that company's new strategic direction.”

The acquisition is the sixth made by Parkmead since Mr Cross took charge of the group in 2011, a year after a Korean firm paid £1.9bn for the North Sea-focused Dana Petroleum business he developed.

Mr Cross appears to be increasingly confident that the slump in the North Sea has created the opportunity to speed up progress in his attempt to build a business that could rival the success of Dana.

He said Parkmead is working on eleven potential acquisitions, around half of which are in the UK North Sea. The company could spend up to $100 million (£75m) on a suitable target.

The range of deals under discussion provides evidence of the scale of the upheaval that is underway in the North Sea.

Mr Cross said 50 per cent involve major oil and gas companies. Parkmead has been focusing more attention on talks with giants, at least some of which appear to be increasingly keen to shift resources from the North Sea to focus on big projects overseas.

Mr Cross, a former Entrepreneur of the Year, reckons there are a limited number of buyers for the kind of North Sea assets Parkmead is looking at that have the resources and track record required to complete deals.

Parkmead has cash in the bank and no debt. Mr Cross said major investors have indicated their willingness to provide funding for acquisitions.

He noted the downturn has taken a heavy toll on some firms of Parkmead’s scale, adding. “We are not distressed and a number of people are.”

Some firms have been struggling to service debts taken on during the boom that ended in 2014.

Parkmead has been eyeing deals involving firms that are facing big challenges.

The company is also looking at deals that would allow it to increase its exposure to favoured areas.

Part of the attraction of the deal to acquire 50 per cent stakes in the Polecat and Marten finds from Atlantic Petroleum is that they lie close to the Perth and Lowlander fields Parkmead hope to bring onstream.

The fields may be able to share production facilities.

Parkmead said the deal added 16.6 million barrels to its contingent resources, increasing the total by 39 per cent to 59.1mmboe.

Parkmead will need to do work to assure itself the fields concerned can be brought into production profitably before the resources can be classified as reserves.

Mr Cross remains confident that oil prices will increase as growing numbers of fields around the world run dry. But he said Parkmead can make good returns at the depressed prices that have been prevailing in recent months.

Brent crude traded at around $45/bbl yesterday, compared with $115/bbl in June 2014.

Parkmead is producing gas for $14 per barrel oil equivalent in the Netherlands. The company said the Diever West field it brought onstream in November has been performing above expectations.

In May Atlantic Petroleum said a £8m loan facility secured from London Oil & Gas had given it the flexibility to add to its portfolio in its chosen focus areas of Eastern Europe and Eurasia.