Page 11 - MEOG Week 19 2021

MEOG FINANCE & INVESTMENT MEOG

ADNOC invites banks

to pitch for drilling IPO

UAE ABU Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) is bpd by 2030.
reported to have asked investment banks to pitch The move is one of a spate of IPOs and secu-
for work on the listing of its ADNOC Drilling ritisations across the Middle East, with Saudi
as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO). Arabian state-backed Arabian Drilling Co.
Speaking to Reuters over the weekend, (ADC) also understood to be preparing to list.
sources said that a group of international and As reported by Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG)
local banks had been invited to submit bids to earlier this month, the listing would give ADC a
act as bookrunner on the share sale, with the total valuation of around $2bn.
winner expected to be announced by the end of Saudi’s Industrialisation & Energy Services
the month. Co. (Taqa) owns a 51% stake in ADC, with
ADNOC intends to carry out the IPO dur- global services specialist Schlumberger holding
ing Q3, with a source saying previously that the the remaining 49%.
placement could fetch $1bn. Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources
ADNOC Drilling is the largest driller in the told Bloomberg that ADC has asked banks to
region and has a fleet of 75 onshore rigs, 20 off- pitch for work in the potential listing.
shore jack-up rigs and 11 island rigs. According to the company’s website, ADC
In October 2018, GE subsidiary Baker was formed in 1964 and lists major clients
Hughes (BHGE) acquired a 5% stake in the including Saudi Aramco, Schlumberger and
company for $550mn, valuing the subsidiary at Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) – the joint
$11bn, with the companies advised on the trans- venture between Kuwait Petroleum Corp.’s
action by Citigroup and Moelis & Co. Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. (KGOC) subsidiary and
ADNOC Drilling’s fleet will be key to the par- Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Co.
ent firm achieving its crude production goals of (AGOC), which manages the offshore portion of
raising output from 4mn barrels per day to 5mn the partitioned neutral zone (PNZ).™

Valeura to close Turkish

sale in coming weeks

TURKEY CANADIAN junior Valeura Energy reported to $44mn once the deal is completed.
progress on May 7 in the planned sale of its con- “We remain committed to Turkey, and our
ventional shallow gas assets in Turkey’s Thrace longer-term plans to further appraise our 20
basin to local producer TBNG. trillion cubic feet (566bn cubic metre) unrisked
Valeura agreed on the $15.5mn sale in mean prospective resource deep tight gas play
October last year, in order to raise cash to fund remain intact,” Valeura CEO Sean Guest said.
potential merger and acquisition activity and “In the meantime, closing this sale will solidify
to further appraise its undeveloped deep tight our increased cash position which will facilitate
gas play in Thrace. However, it said last month Valeura pressing forward with our inorganic
it had agreed with TBNG to delay the long stop growth strategy.”
date for the sale from April 18 until July 30, to Valeura is also seeking a partner with tech-
secure a remaining government approval. That nical and commercial expertise to take its deep
approval has now been given, Valeura said last gas play project forward. It had been partnered
week, and the deal’s closure is expected in the with Equinor, but the Norwegian company with-
coming weeks. drew from the project in early 2020. Equinor had
In addition to the $15.5mn sum, Valeura will funded much of the work at the site up until then.
also be entitled to royalty payments for five years. TBNG’s shareholders are Ian Hannam, the
Their size will depend on local gas prices and will founder of London-based investment bank
range from between $1mn and $5mn in total. Hannam & Partners, along with TNBG’s man-
The company expects its cash balance to expand agement team.™

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