Page 14 - AfrOil Week 02 2020

AfrOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrOil
Equatorial Guinea signs
several MoUs to boost
oil exploration
The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea has signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with suc- cessful bidders of its 2019 licensing round, on the sidelines of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi. Under EG-RONDA 2019, the government of Equatorial Guinea offered 27 free blocks for exploration across its sedimentary basins. The licensing round generated interest from 53 companies and resulted in 17 bids.
MoUs have been signed for Block EG-27 with Lukoil and GEPetrol (Niger Basin, offshore), EG-23 with WalterSmith, Hawtai Energy and GEPetrol (Niger Basin offshore), EG-09 with Noble Energy and GEPetrol (Duala Basin, off- shore), EG-18 with Africa Oil Corp. and GEPet- rol (Rio Muni basin, offshore), EG-03, EG-04, EG-19 and Block P with Vaalco Energy, Levene Energy and GEPetrol (Rio Muni Basin, onshore) and EG-28 with GEPetrol (Rio Muni Basin, off- shore). The signing of these MoUs is a first step towards the fast completion of production-shar- ing contracts (PSCs).
“The results coming out of the EG Ronda 2019 were very encouraging and we hope to see a robust and sustained exploration activity in Equatorial Guinea once these contracts are signed,” declared Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons. “In 2020, the Year of Investment will see the signing and execution of several such contracts and projects, not only in upstream but also midstream and downstream.”
Exploration activity has been slowly recover- ing in the Gulf of Guinea. In 2019 for instance, Noble Energy announced a discovery after drill- ing the Aseng 6P well at a depth of 4,000 metres in Equatorial Guinea, confirming expectations that the country remains a promising frontier for oil and gas exploration. Recent discoveries are expected to add an additional 20,000 bpd to Equatorial Guinea’s oil production this year. African Energy Chamber, January 13 2020
Zenith Energy comments on acquisition of AAOG Congo
Zenith Energy, the international oil and gas pro- duction company, is pleased to note the passing of the resolution by the shareholders of Anglo African Oil & Gas (AAOG) to approve the sale of 80% in Anglo African Oil & Gas Congo SAU (AAOG Congo) to Zenith at the general meeting held earlier today.
As announced on January 6, 2020, Zenith will
make available a loan to AAOG of GBP250,000 with effect from January 25, 2020. The acqui- sition remains subject to certain regulatory requirements in the Republic of the Congo. The term sheet for the Put and Call Option announced earlier today remains subject to and a final agreement and an announcement will be made on this in due course.
Andrea Cattaneo, the company’s CEO, com- mented: “We are pleased to have passed the major hurdle in our acquisition of a controlling stake in AAOG Congo and look forward to com- pleting the Acquisition in due course.”
Zenith Energy, January 13 2020
FINANCES
LEKOIL provides update
on fraudulent $184mn
loan agreement
LEKOIL has announced that, following the com- pany’s announcement on Monday, it is now in a position to advise that, based on all information currently available to LEKOIL, the $184mn loan agreement announced on January 2, 2020, by the company, purportedly with the Qatar Invest- ment Authority (‘QIA’), seems to have been entered into by the company with individuals who have constructed a complex facade in order to masquerade as representatives of the QIA.
The company will be contacting the relevant authorities across a number of jurisdictions without delay with regard to what appears to be an attempt to defraud LEKOIL and would like to thank the QIA for drawing this matter to the company’s advisers’ attention on January 12, 2020, who then immediately made contact with
the QIA to establish the facts of the situation. LEKOIL’s due diligence on the parties involved in the transaction included, inter alia, meetings with individuals who, the company now understands falsely presented their cre- dentials as QIA representatives and interaction with individuals purporting to be carrying out legal and technical due diligence on behalf of the QIA (again, falsely). In addition, at the behest of the company’s non-executive directors, a third- party due diligence report, based predominately on open source information, was commissioned by LEKOIL on Seawave Invest Ltd in its capac- ity as introducer of the counterparties and lead adviser to the company in relation to the facil- ity agreement. In addition to the work of its in-house specialists, LEKOIL also sought advice in relation to the transaction from its retained
UK legal counsel.
As such, while LEKOIL seeks to establish,
alongside its legal counsel and nominated adviser, the full facts of this matter, the facility agreement can no longer be considered to be legally binding or enforceable and it should therefore be assumed that none of the funding, as set out in the announcement of January 2, 2020, will be forthcoming. As set out in more detail below, an investigation committee has been constituted on the matter.
LEKOIL confirms that its financial exposure associated with the facility agreement is limited to approximately $600,000 (being the amounts paid in good faith as initial arrangement fees to Seawave, and the company’s associated legal fees) and can also confirm that there have been no monies paid by LEKOIL to the counterpar- ties. Any further fees due pursuant to the trans- action (which, for the avoidance of doubt, will not be paid) would only have been payable upon drawdown of funds.
LEKOIL, January 14 2020
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