OGV Energy take a look back at the last week in oil and gas

Premier Oil PLC, on Tuesday, revealed it is to be overhauled significantly through a merger with private equity-backed North Sea peer Chrysaor.

It will be London’s largest independent oil and gas company by production and reserves. Premier’s current board intends to unanimously and unconditionally recommend the transaction to shareholders.

Existing shareholders will retain around 5.45% of the new company, which will have production of 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day

On Monday, Deltic Energy PLC has told investors that takeover approaches from Independent Oil & Gas PLC were deemed to be not in the best interest of shareholders and were rejected.

The North Sea focussed company, in a statement, noted that it rejected approaches in early September and more recently. An improved approach from IOG dated September 25 proposed an all share merger and was pitched at a discount of more than 10% of Deltic’s share price.

Mosman Oil and Gas Ltd has updated on the Falcon-1 well at the Champion project in East Texas.

The company said that drilling is progressing well towards two prospective zones identified previously by seismic, forecast at between 7,400 and 7,500 feet. Currently, the drill programme is at around 7,160 feet. Once the well reaches target depth of 7,500 feet it will be conditioned and prepared for wireline logging.

Solo Oil PLC told investors it has completed the second closing under its investment facility with US-based energy investor Prolific Basins LLC. In June, Solo signed-up to a funding facility with Prolific for up to US$5mln and this latest draw-down is for US$500,000.

GP Jersey, a family office and Solo shareholder, has the right to match Prolific’s investment and has chosen to do so – resulting in a total US$1mln capital boost for the AIM-quoted firm.

Solo chief executive Tom Reynolds noted that the investments are a clear reflection of the company’s investment case at the current time.

Zephyr Energy PLC, the Rocky Mountain oil and gas company, received the funding needed to drill a research well in the Paradox Basin, Utah. The company said the well should be spudded before the end of the year.

Zephyr has entered into a definitive binding agreement with the University of Utah’s Energy & Geoscience Institute (EGI) to sanction and fund US$2 million towards the planned stratigraphic research well.

SDX Energy PLC has flagged up a strong performance during its second half to date with production presently seen ahead of guidance. The company, in an update marking the end of its third quarter, said it now intends to accelerate a significant new drill programme at the South Disouq project area in Egypt.

Production in the nine months to end September 2020 averaged between 6,488 and 6,598 barrels oil equivalent per day (boepd), which is up 85%-89% on the comparative period in 2019 and compares favourably to current guidance of 6,000 to 6,250 boepd.

SDX highlighted a strong cash position, marked at US$9.2mln at the end of September, and noted that a US$7.5mln credit facility from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development remains undrawn and available up to November 1, 2020, after which it will amortise to US$2.5 million of availability.

Diversified Gas & Oil PLC said funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management will work with it to identify and fund future acquisition opportunities.

Oaktree, a premier global firm with a history of successful partnerships, has agreed to commit up to US$1bn in aggregate over three years for mutually agreed upon “proved developed producing” (PDP) acquisitions with transaction valuations greater than US$250mln. Diversified Gas & Oil (DGO) will match Oaktree’s investment on a dollar for dollar basis and will act as the sole operator of all assets acquired.

Union Jack Oil PLC announced that drilling has begun on its 16.665% owned potentially high impact West Newton B-1 well in east Yorkshire.

It is an appraisal well designed to follow-up the successful West Newton A-2 discovery well. West Newton B-1 will be drilled down to a depth of around 2,000 metres over a period of six to ten weeks, the group said.

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE.