Page 18 - AfrOil Week 22a 2020

AfrOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrOil
As announced on April 22, 2020, following the Company’s dual listing on the Main Market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in January 2017 and the admission of its entire share capital to the Merkur Market of the Oslo Stock Exchange in November 2018, the Company has seen its investor base move increasingly towards the UK and Norway, with limited investor support from the Canadian market
Given the aforementioned, and in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and low oil price environment, the Company has been reviewing its corporate structure to max- imise cost control and, following this review, has elected to delist from the TSX-V. The benefits of delisting are expected to result in materially lower administrative costs, greater operational efficiency and management time savings.
To achieve further corporate cost savings, Zenith announces that Novum Securities has ceased to act as broker to the Company.
Zenith Energy, May 28 2020
PERFORMANCE
ReconAfrica reports on Q1-2020 results
Reconnaissance Energy Africa reports its Q1-2020 results. The unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and management discussion and analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2020 will be available on the System for Electronic Docu- ment Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www. sedar.com and on ReconAfrica’s website at www. reconafrica.com.
Highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2020: ReconAfrica completed a non-bro- kered private placement of 5mn units of the Company at CAD0.68 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD3.4mn; the Company completed the acquisition of a Crown 750 drill- ing rig for CAD1.8mn and commenced retro- fitting the rig for drilling in the Kalahari Desert; ReconAfrica significantly strengthened its team via the addition of several key members of man- agement and board appointees.
CEO J. Jay Park said: “Following a landmark 2019 year in which the company completed an RTO and became listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, ReconAfrica continued its strong momentum into early 2020. This included rais- ing a further CAD3.4mn to finance the acquisi- tion, upgrading and transport of a Crown 750 drilling rig. The Crown 750 drilling rig is being outfitted in Houston with a best-in-class top drive system (for faster drilling rates) and ancil- lary equipment to acclimate the rig for drilling in
the Kalahari Desert.
“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic,
which brought about travel bans and logistical restrictions, the Company deferred scheduled drilling activities to such a time as critical restric- tions are lifted. Following the Namibian gov- ernment’s announcement that the country will begin to gradually reopen from Tuesday, May 5, domestic travel is now permitted within the country. International travel and admission of foreign nationals remain restricted in Namibia, but the Namibian government guidance is that further easing of restrictions could come as soon as June 1. In anticipation that Namibian and international restrictions will be lifted during the summer, ReconAfrica is continuing its oper- ational planning for the drilling of its first well in Namibia in the fourth quarter of 2020.
“In the first quarter of 2020, ReconAfrica significantly bolstered its management team through the additions of Scot Evans as Chief Operating Officer; Carlos Escribano as Chief Financial Officer; Anna Tudela as Corporate Secretary; John Boudreaux in logistics and pro- curement; and Shiraz Dhanani to the Board of Directors.”
ReconAfrica is a junior oil and gas company engaged in the development of the newly dis- covered Kavango Sedimentary Basin, in north- east Namibia, where the Company holds a 90% working interest (from surface to basement) in a petroleum licence, comprising approximately 6.3mn contiguous acres.
ReconAfrica, May 29 2020
Gabon/Tunisia: Panoro
Energy announces Q1-2020
results
Financial highlights: gross revenue from con- tinuing operations for 1Q 2020 of $3.4mn com- pared to $13.7mn for the previous quarter, due to fewer liftings (70% lower in volume) and lower oil prices; EBITDA from continuing operations of $300,000mn compared to $5.5mn for the fourth quarter of 2019; Q1-2020 net income before tax of $9mn principally from gains on crude oil hedges; Q1-2020 net group production from continuing operations of approximately 2,042 bpd (Q4-2019 average net production: 1,921 bpd); cash balances of $24.2mn at quarter end (December 31, 2019: $30.5mn) including cash held for bank guarantee; debt of $23.4mn (31 December 2019: $25.4mn), with $2.1mn having been repaid in the quarter.
Operational highlights: production and lifting operations maintained and unaffected through crisis; health and safety systems and protocols proved resilient; capital expenditure materially reduced through the deferment of
drilling activities in Gabon; Gabon annual pro- duction guidance revised down due to impact of COVID-19 on well drilling and completion activities; Tunisian gross production increased by 15% as compared to Q4-2019 to approxi- mately 4,000 bpd in current quarter with further increase targeted in Q3-2020; rig secured to drill well on Guebiba field, to be followed by Salloum West exploration well.
Corporate highlights: hedging strategy prov- ing effective in period of extremely volatile and low oil prices; farm-in agreement signed on February 25, 2020, for 12.5% Working Interest in Block 2B, offshore South Africa.
Outlook and guidance: current 2020 net production guidance of 2,300-2,600 bpd due to announced revision in Gabon; in Gabon, pro- duction from DTM-6H (drilled but not tied in) and DTM-7H (to be drilled) to be brought on as soon as conditions permit; production growth activity in Tunisia at unprecedented levels, with further increase expected in Q3-2020; dividend of PetroNor shares upon completion of sale of Aje.
John Hamilton, CEO of Panoro, commented: “Decisiveactionstakenbothpriortoandduring the ongoing crisis have put Panoro in a stable and resilient position. Our focus has been on protect- ing our highly valuable assets whilst remaining financially prudent until the dislocated macro environment improves. With 25-30% of our high-quality oil production hedged in 2020 and 2021, together with our significantly reduced capital expenditure budget, Panoro has taken steps to mitigate the impact of the recent dra- matic collapse in oil prices. With some of the conditions easing recently, we are taking further actions towards resumption of some well activ- ity in Tunisia, and await further improvements ahead of our planned growth in Gabon.”
Panoro Energy, May 28 2020
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Week 22 03•June•2020