Page 14 - LatAmOil Week 07 2020

LatAmOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
LatAmOil
e 2015 Liza nd has completely rewritten the script for Guyana’s economic outlook, with cap- ital investments (including exploration) having surpassed $3bn in 2019.
“Currently, most of the costs are being spent on developing Liza and nding new resources. Soon, however, capital-intensive new develop- ment projects are likely to kick o , with green- eldcostsformingamajorpartofthespending,” said Palzor Shenga, Senior Upstream Research Analyst at Rystad Energy.
Rystad Energy, February 14 2020
FINANCE
Bahamas Petroleum
provides update on
Bahamian Mutual Fund
Bahamas Petroleum Company, the oil and gas exploration company with signi cant prospec- tive resources in licences in e Commonwealth of The Bahamas, has provided an update in regards to the launch of a Bahamian incorpo- rated mutual fund.
In December 2019, the Company advised of the launch of the Fund, established for the sole purpose of enabling qualified Bahamian investors to invest in the Company, and impor- tantly thereby have an interest in the Company’s nationally signi cant project. e fund is being managed by Leno Corporate Services under the terms of the Fund Investment Memorandum. A copy of the Fund Investment Memorandum can be found on Leno’s website at www.lenoba- hamas.com.
e Fund was opened to initial subscriptions
by qualifying Bahamian investors on 6 January 2020 at a subscription price of GBP0.02, the exact same price as was available to UK inves- tors at the most recent open o er and placing in November 2019.
at initial subscription period, scheduled to end on Friday, February 7, 2020, was extended at the request of Leno to Wednesday, February 12, 2020, so as to enable them, as the Fund admin- istrator, to complete processing of late sub- scriptions received. To-date, Leno has received subscriptions in Bahamian Dollars totalling $914,000 (approximately GBP700,000) and accordingly, Leno has applied for, and BPC will issue to the Fund, 35,337,328 ordinary shares, based upon the subscription price of GBP0.02 per share.
Under the terms of the Fund going forward, month end valuations will be undertaken dur- ing which new Fund investor subscription and redemption submissions will be processed, although a more frequent valuation interval is permitted at the election of the Fund directors. At each of these valuation dates, the Fund may utilise net subscription proceeds to either pur- chase additional shares in BPC on the open mar- ket or, at the Company’s discretion, subscribe for new ordinary shares in the Company at the then prevailing market price.
Given the Company’s share price is currently signi cantly greater than the initial subscription price of GBP0.02 per share, BPC has advised Leno that it will not accommodate any further late or additional subscriptions entitlements at this level.
However, seeking to ensure the opportunity for further local Bahamian participation in the project is maintained as the venture gains greater public pro le, the Company has agreed to x an issue price for subscription requests, at the
rst valuation event on March 31, 2020, only, at GBP0.0335 per share, being the closing market price of BPC shares on February 12, 2020. is subscription price will only apply for up to a maximum of 40mn additional shares.
All proceeds from the initial and subsequent subscriptions will be received by BPC in Baha- mian dollars, and consequently will be applied by BPC against its domestic Bahamian costs, and as such does not form a direct part of the Company’s capital strategy for nancing of the Perseverance-1 well.
Simon Potter, Chief Executive Officer of Bahamas Petroleum Co., said: “ e mutual fund initiative was set up with the straightforward goal of allowing Bahamian investors the opportunity to invest in the outcome of our potentially trans- formational exploration well, targeting 0.77bn to 1.44bn barrels of oil, which is to be drilled in the rst half of 2020. An opportunity they would otherwise have e ectively been precluded from.
“Further, by o ering this opportunity at a subscription price of GBP0.02, potential Baha- mian investors have been extended this oppor- tunity under the same conditions as had recently applied to UK investors alike. Accordingly, the fund has and will continue to accomplish its objective, in creating a vehicle through which Bahamian investors can, should they so wish, participate now or in future in the fortunes of the Company.
“I would emphasise for all shareholders’ bene t that any funds raised from the Fund ini- tiative, now and in the future, will be additive to our existing nancial resources but are not essential to meeting the estimated costs of drill- ing, for which costs we have been implementing a staged, coordinated funding strategy, as previ- ously communicated to the market.”
Bahamas Petroleum Co., February 14 2020
P14
w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m
Week 07 20•February•2020