Page 8 - AfrOil Week 17 2021

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

FAR says Remus is unlikely

to proceed with takeover bid

SENEGAL AUSTRALIA’S FAR Ltd has indicated that it the majority owner of the RSSD joint venture set
does not expect Remus Horizons, a private up to explore and develop the block. FAR said
investment fund, to move forward with a takeo- last November that it intended to sell its stake
ver proposal that would allow it to gain a minor- to ONGC Videsh Vankorneft, a subsidiary of
ity stake in Sangomar, an oil-bearing block India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), but Woodside
located offshore Senegal. pre-empted the deal, and the Australian firms
In a statement, FAR indicated that it had formalised plans for the sale in January 2021.
come to this conclusion last week, after receiving The terms of that sale are spelled out in a
two letters in which Remus explained that it had sales and purchase agreement (SPA). Under
run into a number of difficulties. In one of these that document, FAR will sell its stake in RSSD
letters, it explained, a Remus representative said to Woodside for $45mn plus reimbursement for
that his organisation was not in a position to its own share of working capital in the project,
lodge its bidder’s statement because its registra- including cash calls, between January 1, 2020,
tion as a private investment fund had recently and the date the transaction is concluded, along
been suspended. with the right to collect certain contingent pay-
In the other letter, FAR said, another Remus ments in the future.
representative reported that the investment RSSD’s licence area comprises three separate
fund had not secured the proper authorisation fields – Rufisque, Sangomar Offshore and San-
to move ahead with the takeover plan. It quoted gomar Deep Offshore, which collectively give
the representative as saying that Remus did not the joint venture its name. Oil was discovered at
have the funds needed to finance the proposal the block in 2014, which is estimated to contain
and that its board of directors would not approve 645mn barrels of oil equivalent in recoverable
a bidder’s statement. reserves, including 485mn barrels of crude oil
Remus, for its part, had not commented and 160mn boe of natural gas. Woodside hopes
on the matter as of press time. The investment to begin production in 2023. ™
fund is a petroleum-focused subsidiary of Hong
Kong-based Remus Corp.
According to previous reports, FAR received
an off-market proposal from Remus on April 14,
one day before a scheduled general meeting of
shareholders. It pushed the date of the meeting
back to April 28 to allow for consideration of the
investment fund’s offer to pay AUD0.021 per
share, or AUD209.6mn ($163.2mn) in total, for
100% of the Australian firm’s equity, provided
that the latter did not sell its minority stake in
the Sangomar project.
FAR has indicated previously that it favours
the sale of its stake in Sangomar to Woodside
Energy, the Australian company that is already The Sangomar offshore block holds about 645mn boe (Image: Cairn Energy)

Nigerian president returns fields to Addax

NIGERIA NIGERIAN President Muhammadu Buhari has owned by the Chinese government, on April 23.
transferred licences for four oil-bearing blocks It said the president had taken this step in order
back to Addax Petroleum, a company con- to uphold legal norms and demonstrate its “com-
trolled by China’s Sinopec. This move reverses mitment to the rule of law, fairness and enabling
a decision made earlier this month by Nigeria’s a stable business climate for investment.”
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Overturning the DPR’s decision “reaffirms
Buhari’s office issued a statement confirming the commitment of President Buhari to the rule
the return of the licences to Sinopec, which is of law and sanctity of contracts,” it added.

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 17 28•April•2021