Cairn completes Egypt deal | AMTE Power hires CFO

Cairn Energy, together with its consortium partner Cheiron Petroleum Corporation, has completed the $323m acquisition of a portfolio of upstream oil and gas production, development and exploration interests from Shell Egypt NV and Shell Austria in the Western Desert, in Egypt.

Capricorn Egypt, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn, acquired 50% of the assets, with the remaining 50% acquired by Cheiron subsidiaries.

The gas-weighted portfolio, in a region with strong demand growth, offers low cost production, near-term development, owned infrastructure and significant exploration potential.

Cairn has appointed Dr Eleanor Rowley as managing director, Egypt. Dr Rowley joins Cairn from TotalEnergies where she was vice-president exploration for the Middle East, Caspian, North Africa and Southern Europe.

Simon Thomson, chief executive of Cairn (pictured), said: “The addition of the Western Desert assets to our portfolio is an important first step in expanding and diversifying our producing asset base, alongside offering significant exploration potential.

“We look forward to working alongside our partners to deliver the attractive growth opportunities the assets provide.

“I would like to thank the Government of Egypt and the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for  their approval of the transaction.”

7am: CFO for AMTE Power

Thurso-based battery developer AMTE Power has appointed James Hobson, as chief financial officer.

…more follows

7am: Hotel Chocolat delay

Hotel Chocolat’s auditor, BDO, has requested more time to complete its audit processes and the company will now publish its 2021 final results for the year ended 27 June on 5 October.

The company emphasises that the delay arises from undertaking the ordinary course audit process that BDO is required to perform and not as a result of any concerns relating to its 2021 results.

Global markets

The FTSE 100 index was set for a subdued end to the week even though US markets decided that the Fed commitment to tighten its monetary policies could prove positive.

Financial spread betters expected London’s main index to ease around three points at the open to follow yesterday’s five-point fall to 7,087.

The Dow Jones rose 1.5%, the S&P 500 1.3% and Nasdaq 1%.

Asian markets were mixed and again dominated by Evergrande with the Chinese regime said to be warning local governments to prepare for the property firm’s collapse.

The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.21% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.11%

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was an exception, surging 2% while South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.17%.

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE.