It was an exciting week for Hurricane Energy (AIM HUR OTC HRCXF) stakeholders, culminating in the announcement that 92.34% of the votes cast at the shareholder meeting were against the resolution to approve the restructuring plan. Next up is the court hearing on 21 June, however, the extraordinary general meeting to change the board (resolutions for which are highly likely to be successful) is not until 5 July. Meanwhile, the current board is sticking with its plan regardless of the shareholder vote and will ask the court to approve the restructuring and "cram down" the shareholders, forcing the plan upon them despite their vote against. It all now depends whether the shareholder group, led by Crystal Amber Fund (AIM CRS), can convince the court with an alternative plan. More on HUR in the private blog.
President Energy (AIM PPC OTC PPCGF) announced the farm out of a 50% interest in their Pirity Concession, Paraguay, to “a substantial Northern Hemisphere state-owned energy company.” In return, the farminee will pay 60% of the costs of an exploration well currently scheduled to commence during H1 2022 and will also pay President $4m in consideration of the company agreeing to enter into its performance obligations under the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval and prolongation of the licence. The exploration well will target the Delray complex of prospects, estimated by PPC to contain over 260 million barrels of oil (Pmean unrisked resources). Costs of the well are estimated at between $10-15 million with an estimated chance of success of 30%. More on PPC in the private blog.
Predator Oil & Gas (LSE PRD) updated regarding the drilling of the MOU-1 well. Site construction and civil works have been completed and a further update on the mobilisation of the Star Valley Rig 101 to Guercif is expected this coming week. Meanwhile, 11,784,845 new shares are being issued to Paul Griffiths to put him back into the position that existed had he not made the transfer of 11,784,845 of his shares in order to settle a recent placing, the company not having had the necessary headroom at the time. These kinds of restrictions are the reason why Predator wants to move from the Official List to AIM, a retrograde step in the opinion of many shareholders. More on PRD in the private blog.
Longboat Energy (AIM LBE) had a busy week. The company announced a £35 million fundraising in a price range of 75p to 80p and ended up closing the funding at the bottom of the range. The main thing of course is that it raised the money. Longboat has now farmed in with three separate counterparties to a package of nine upcoming exploration wells with geological chances of success ranging from 15% to 55%. The first four drills are expected in the third quarter of this year. More on LBE in the private blog.
A major step forward last week for IOG (AIM IOG), which announced that the Blythe and Southwark gas platforms have successfully been installed at their offshore field locations, in line with the project schedule. It’s another important milestone for IOG’s Phase 1 development and the facilities form a critical link between the co-owned and operated offshore pipeline network and IOG’s onshore Thames Reception Facilities at Bacton Terminal. More on IOG in the private blog.
88 Energy (AIM & ASX 88E OTC EEENF) announced the acquisition of a 50% working interest from its partner in Project Peregrine, as a result of which 88 Energy now holds a 100% working interest in the project. The consideration comprises $14 million of new 88E shares, to be issued in several tranches; a 1.5% overriding royalty interest on future production from the Project Peregrine licences; a $10m cash payment on the achievement of gross 2P reserves of 100 million barrels within 36 months; cash payments of $2.5m per 50 million barrels on the achievement of gross 2P reserves added over 100 million barrels within 36 months (capped at 5 additional cash payments); and 10% of the gross sale proceeds in respect of an assignment of greater than 49% of Project Peregrine within 24 months, excluding a bona fide farm-out.
The stated reasons why 88 Energy’s partner, Alaska Peregrine Development Company LLC, did not want to continue are that it allows 88E to pursue a continuation of the exploration program at Project Peregrine next winter, whereas APDC had indicated that it was contemplating a pause in activity to further understand the results from Merlin-1; APDC is unlikely to be able to satisfy anticipated funding requirements for operations in future seasons and do not want to hold 88 Energy back from future development of the acreage; and APDC do not have the technical acumen nor operational expertise to add value in a remote Alaskan context. Essentially, they wanted out. More on 88E in the private blog.
Tower Resources (AIM TRP OTC RTWRF) announced its preliminary results to 31 December 2020. A loss of $1,360,736 was recorded for the year, but the company is confident that if the environment remains as it is currently, a combination of good planning and wider vaccination will allow it to proceed with the NJOM-3 well in 2021. Market focus is on the Thali PSC, offshore Cameroon, however, Tower also has a prospective license in South Africa, plus a potentially interesting license in Namibia too. More on TRP in the private blog.
In the private blog this evening, ADV IOG DELT LBE PRD LOGP CHAR (OIGLF) 88E (EEENF) AEX (AEXFF) TRP (RTWRF) PVR (PVDRF) PPC (PPCGF) and HUR (HRCXF) (but please note that commentary on all of these is not necessarily positive). More on that at: https://www.oilnewslondon.com/oilman-jim
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The author may hold one or more investments in one or more of the companies mentioned so this post cannot be viewed as independent research. This post does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell and may be incorrect or outdated.