Page 10 - AfrOil Week 44 2019

AfrOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
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LEKOIL: OPL 310 licence extension terms fulfilled
LEKOIL, the oil and gas exploration and devel- opment company with a focus on West Africa, announces that it has paid the US$7.5mn license extension fee for OPL 310, as mandated by the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and previously first announced on 6 September 2019. The company funded this payment from a mix of existing financial resources and debt facilities.
In addition, LEKOIL has paid in full the bal- ance of outstanding G&A arrears of approxi- mately US$3mn together with US$1mn of the US$5mn Operator’s fee due to its partner on the Block,OptimumPetroleumDevelopmentCo., as announced on 30 August 2019. The balance of this fee (US$4mn) is now due by 2 February 2020, which the company expects to fund from a combination of existing financial resources and a potential funding partner, as previously announced.
Lekan Akinyanmi, LEKOIL’s CEO, said: “We are pleased with the positive momentum being created with our partner Optimum and the Fed- eral Government of Nigeria in taking the block forward. We continue to expect to unlock sig- nificant value in this asset for all stakeholders involved, who we thank for their patience and support.”
LEKOIL, October 31 2019
Africa Oil enters into
amended agreement to
increase its interest in
deepwater Nigeria fields
Africa Oil is pleased to announce that it has entered into an amendment to the share pur- chase agreement (SPA) signed on October 31, 2018, between Petrobras International Bras- petro (PIBBV) and Petrovida Holding, the com- pany formed by the consortium of Africa Oil, Delonex Energy and Vitol Investment Partner- ship II to acquire an ownership interest in Petro- bras Oil and Gas (POGBV). This follows Vitol and Delonex decisions to withdraw from the previously announced purchase of 50% of the share capital of POGBV. Consequently, Africa Oil will be the sole acquirer of the 50% inter- est in POGBV with Vitol and Delonex exiting Petrovida.
The primary assets of POGBV are an indi- rect 8% interest in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 127, which contains the producing Agbami Field,
operated by affiliates of Chevron, and an indirect 16% interest in OML 130, operated by affiliates of Total, which contains the producing Akpo and Egina fields.
It remains the intention of the company to complete the transaction on the previously announced terms, subject to all necessary reg- ulatory and third-party approvals, including the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Nigeria.
Africa Oil is also pleased to announce that it has agreed the terms of a credit committee approved term sheet with BTG Pactual for a guarantee and loan facility (bridge loan) of up to US$250mn. The bridge loan, together with the available cash, provide the necessary funds for the company to cover its POGBV deal comple- tion payments and 2020 budget.
Africa Oil President and CEO Keith Hill com- mented:“AfricaOilconsidersthistobeaunique and transformational opportunity to acquire an increased interest in world class producing assets operated by Chevron and Total. We remain com- mitted to completing this acquisition and look forward to working with Petrobras and all stake- holders to accomplish that goal.”
Africa Oil is a Canadian oil and gas company with assets in Kenya and has signed an agree- ment to acquire an interest in a producing asset in deepwater Nigeria. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on Nasdaq Stockholm under the symbol AOI.
Africa Oil Corp., November 01 2019
Tower Resources provides
operational update on
Cameroon
Tower Resources, the AIM-listed oil and gas company with a focus on Africa, is pleased to provide an update on operations on the Thali block in Cameroon. The company and its subsid- iary, Tower Resources Cameroon, have signed a contract with Geoquip Marine Operations to conduct the site survey at the intended NJOM-3 well location on the company’s Thali license in Cameroon. The contract provides for the MV Investigator to arrive in Cameroon between 15 November and 30 December 2019, subject to all relevant permits and the requisite license exten- sion being received from the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development prior to mobilisation.
The work will comprise three boreholes, each with cone penetration testing (continuous PCPT), and is a necessary prerequisite to COSL drilling the NJOM-3 well in line with the LOI, which has already been signed with COSL as disclosed in August 2019. The cost of the survey is in line with the budget previously anticipated,
and the time required for the work is approxi- mately seven to 10 days on site, plus any off-site testing and report preparation.
Jeremy Asher, Chairman and CEO, com- mented: “We are looking forward to getting the site survey underway, which should be the final operational step before commencing drilling operations at Njonji. We are still awaiting the formal extension from the ministry, but we are confident that this will be in place in good time for the survey. “
Tower Resources Cameroon, a whol- ly-owned subsidiary of Tower Resources, holds a 100% interest in the shallow water Thali (for- merly known as “Dissoni”) production-sharing contract (PSC), in the Rio del Rey basin, offshore Cameroon. Tower was awarded the PSC on 15 September 2015 for an initial exploration period of three years.
TheThaliPSCcoversanareaof119.2square km, with water depths ranging from 8 to 48 metres, and lies in the prolific Rio del Rey basin, in the eastern part of the Niger Delta. The Rio del Rey basin has, to date, produced over 1bn barrels of oil and has estimated remaining reserves of 1.2bn barrels of oil equivalent, primarily within depths of less than 2,000 metres. The Rio del Rey is a sub-basin of the Niger Delta, an area in which over 34.5bn barrels of oil has been discovered, with 2.5bn boe attributed to the Cameroonian section.
Tower Resources, November 01 2019
VAALCO provides update
on drilling of Etame 9H
development well
VAALCO Energy today provided an update on its 2019/2020 drilling programme offshore Gabon. At the Etame field, the company has begun drilling the Etame 9H horizontal devel- opment well targeting the Gamba formation, as planned. If successful, the Etame 9H well is expected to result in additional production com- ing online in December. As previously disclosed, the Etame 9P appraisal wellbore was success- fully drilled and encountered both the Gamba and Dentale reservoirs at targeted depths as anticipated.
After reaching total depth in the Etame 9P appraisal wellbore, the drillpipe and tools became stuck. VAALCO was able to cut and pull the majority of the drillpipe but was unable to recover a portion of the drillpipe and tools at the bottom of the wellbore. The Etame 9P appraisal wellbore was successfully plugged back to a shal- lower depth, and the company is currently drill- ing the Etame 9H development well as expected. The Etame 9P appraisal wellbore fulfills the com- mitment for one of the two appraisal wellbores
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Week 44 06•November•2019