Page 12 - Euroil Week 40 2019

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil
Hibiscus nearing Crown takeover
UK
Crown was discovered in 1998 but considered too small to develop.
MALAYSIA’S Hibiscus Petroleum is moving closer to acquiring the Crown oil discovery in the UK sector of the North Sea.
e company has signed a sales and purchase agreement with United Oil & Gas and Swift Exploration to buy licence P2366 containing Crown for $5mn. e licence lies 250 km north- east of Aberdeen.
Crown was discovered in 1998 by Cono- coPhillips, which judged the discovery as too small to develop. It is estimated to hold between 4mn and 8mn barrels of contingent oil resources and 170mn cubic metres of gas.
Hibiscus signed a terms sheet with United and Swi in July to buy the Crown licence, which the pair had acquired themselves just a year ear- lier in the UK’s 30th o shore licensing round.
Hibiscus will pay $100,000 initially, followed
by a $900,000 payment when the deal is com- pleted. It will fork out a further $3mn once its development plans are approved for the nearby Marigold eld, which it expects by the end of next year. Crown will be developed with a sin- gle-well tie-in to Marigold’s infrastructure. e company is also liable to pay a further $1mn as part of an overriding royalty scheme once Crown starts up production.
Hibiscus is currently undertaking pre-frontend engineering and design work on Marigold and the nearby Sun ower eld – projects it expects will boost its oil production by 12,500 barrels per day by 2023. e com- pany is an active player in the North Sea, with additional interests in the Teal, Teal South, Guillemot and Cook elds that comprise the Anasuria cluster.™
Junior explorer Solo makes Dutch foray
NETHERLANDS
Solo will gain stakes in 14 North Sea gas elds.
LONDON-LISTED Solo Oil has penned a deal to buy non-operating stakes in 14 gas elds o the coast of the Netherlands, the company said on October 9. It has also decided to change its name to Scirocco Energy.
Solo has signed a sale and purchase agree- ment to buy the assets from the Netherland’s One-Dyas for €30.1mn ($32mn). e elds cur- rently produce 1,750 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with the rate expected to reach 2,125 boepd in 2020 and potentially 3,300 boepd in 2022. ey held 3.6mn boe of proven and probable reserves at the start of this year and 7.5mn boe in best-case contingent reserves.
“ e acquisition transforms Solo into a lead- ing independent producer in the Netherlands and secures a portfolio of cash-generative, pro- ducing assets that sets us on a path to sustaina- ble growth,” Solo CEO Tom Reynolds said in a statement. “ e acquisition of this asset portfo- lio provides an enviable platform for growth in line with our stated strategy and in support of our longer-term ambitions of producing 20,000 boepd in the next ve years.”
Solo plans to fund the purchase taking on a €18mn debt facility from Mercuria Energy and raising £20mn through a placement. e loan is repayable by 2023. e deal, which it expects to nalise in the fourth quarter, will be backdated to January 1 2019.
e elds Solo is buying are situated in the L08/L11, M07 and K&L licences, operated by One-Dyas in partnership with the UK’s Neptune Energy and France’s Total.
Solo currently produces oil and gas in Ontario, Canada, and is looking to develop helium in Tanzania. e acquisition’s size means it is e ectively a reverse takeover, and Solo has temporarily suspended trading of its shares. A new admission document will be published, likely in November. Mercuria, besides nancing the purchase, will manage gas marketing and hedging for Solo.™
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Week 40 10•October•2019