Stephan Bernstein, CEO of GreenRoc, details the PFS results for the new graphite processing plant. Watch the video here.
Posts: 12,284
Posts: 12,284
[RKH]with interests in the North Falkland Basin and the Greater Mediterranean region, is pleased to announce that it has agreed binding documentation with the Falkland Island Government ("FIG") in relation to the tax arising from the Company's 2012 farm-out to Premier Oil plc ("Premier"). The Tax Settlement Deed confirms the quantum and deferment of the outstanding tax liability and reflects the principles agreed between Rockhopper and FIG in December 2013 and is made under Falkland Islands Extra Statutory Concession 16. Highlights · Outstanding tax liability confirmed at £64.4 million (approximately $95.7 million) and payable on the first royalty payment date on Sea Lion (or earlier subject to certain events) · First royalty payment date anticipated to occur within six months of first oil production which itself is estimated to occur in late 2019 (assuming Sea Lion project sanction in mid 2016) · Outstanding tax liability amount may be revised downwards if the Falkland Islands' Commissioner of Taxation is satisfied that either (i) the Exploration Carry from Premier is used to fund exploration activities in the Falkland Island license areas; or (ii) any element of the Development Carry from Premier becomes "irrecoverable" · Rockhopper provides certain "creditor protection" undertakings to FIG while the tax liability remains outstanding including (i) restriction on dividends or distributions; (ii) granting of first ranking security over Rockhopper assets; and (iii) while such security is in place, restrictions, subject to conventional carve outs, on granting further security · Intention that at the point Rockhopper is able to secure senior debt for the Sea Lion project, the security provided to FIG will be released and FIG will be provided with a standby letter of credit to preserve its creditor position · Rockhopper retains balance sheet strength with cash resources at year end 2015 projected to be approximately $125 million Sam Moody, CEO of Rockhopper, commented: "We are delighted to have reached this settlement with FIG under which we now have much greater certainty both on the quantum and timing of the deferred tax liability. "Under the amended commercial arrangements with Premier we intend to access the full $48 million of Exploration Carry during the 2015 drilling campaign which should allow us to reduce the outstanding tax liability by up to £4.7 million (approximately $7.0 million). "The security arrangements and undertakings agreed provide credit protection to FIG while preserving Rockhopper's strong balance sheet and ability to obtain senior debt for the Sea Lion development on a cost effective basis. "As we progress towards the award of the FEED contract during Q2 2015 and now that we have the certainty of the tax settlement in place, our ability to progress discussions with external debt providers (as an alternative to the standby loan from Premier) for our uncarried portion of Sea Lion development costs is significantly enhanced." Further details of the Tax Settlement Deed are outlined in the Final Results announcement which was also published today.
Posts: 12,284
[RKH] announces that the 14/20-1 'Isobel Deep' well (the "Well") was spudded, by Premier Oil as operator, at 22:20 local time on the 8th April 2015. The Well is located on licence PL004a in which Rockhopper has a 24% working interest and is an exploration well on the Isobel deep prospect. The Isobel Deep Well will be the first test of the F3 fan system entering the basin from the South East margin as a sequence of stacked reservoirs. This well will be targeting the Isobel deep fan in the area of maximum mapped reservoir thickness and has a GCoS of 20%. The well is targeting Gross Pmean resources of 72mmbbls (range 9-207mmbbls) although the complex as a whole in this area has gross Pmean prospective resources of just over 500mmbbls. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 30 days and no coring or testing is planned for this well. A further release will be made when drilling is completed. The North Falkland Basin wells are anticipated to cost approximately US$50 million each. As a result of the various carry arrangements, the total net cash exposure to Rockhopper of the four wells is estimated at approximately US$25 million. Samuel Moody, CEO, commented: "We are delighted to be spudding the second well of the campaign following the successful Zebedee oil and gas discovery. The Isobel Deep Well is a high risk high impact well which has the potential in the success case to open a new development area."
Posts: 12,284
[RKH] Pierre Jungels, Chairman of Rockhopper, commented: "The Zebedee well result represents a fantastic start to the 2015 Falklands drilling campaign and provides early proof of the significant remaining potential in the North Falkland Basin. The adoption of a phased, lower cost development solution for Sea Lion significantly de-risks the project and should allow us to capture further cost savings as we progress through the FEED and draft FDP submission processes in 2015 and early 2016. Since the acquisition of Mediterranean Oil & Gas plc, steady progress has been made in advancing the Mediterranean portfolio. Our recent Croatian offshore licence award represents an outstanding low cost opportunity to increase our acreage position in an area with proven hydrocarbons. Rockhopper's balance sheet remains strong and the Company is well placed to take advantage of potential growth opportunities which may present themselves as a result of the current market environment."
Posts: 12,284
[RKH] Provides the following update on the Isobel Deep Exploration well 14/20-1 (the "Well"). Rockhopper Exploration is pleased to announce an oil discovery at the Isobel Deep exploration well 14/20-1 in the North Falkland Basin, approximately 40km south of the Sea Lion field. The Isobel Deep exploration well has been drilled to a depth of 2527m having penetrated the top of the target reservoir 2m higher than prognosis at 2503m. The bottom 24m of the Well consists of oil bearing F3 (Isobel Deep) sands. These sands were at a higher than expected reservoir pressure and this resulted in an influx of fluid (oil) into the Well. As part of the operations to remove the influx, oil was recovered at surface from the Well and appears similar in nature to Sea Lion crude. LWD ("Logging While Drilling") data collected over the first 12m of the reservoir and cuttings data to the base of the Well comprising oil stained sandstones also confirm the Well as an oil discovery. As a result of the new geological information it has been decided to suspend operations on the Well before the planned Total Depth has been reached and to release the rig to drill in the South Falkland Basin. The Well has currently penetrated approximately one third of the mapped sand thickness at the location. The rig is expected to return to continue operations in the North Falklands Basin in August. Sam Moody, CEO, commented:- "Following the discovery at Zebedee we are delighted to have made another discovery in this North Falkland Basin exploration campaign. Having retained the sub-surface lead for North Falkland Basin exploration in the farm out to Premier in 2012, I am delighted to report that our exploration team now enjoys a success rate of 9 out of 11 wells in licences PL004 and PL0032. Isobel represents a new play and significantly de-risks the entire Isobel / Elaine fan complex confirming the presence of an oil prone hydrocarbon system with moveable oil in the Isobel Deep reservoir." Although the Well has not yet reached Total Depth the signs for the Isobel/Elaine complex so far are very encouraging and we will decide the next actions in appraising the discovery over the coming weeks while the rig is drilling to the south of the Falkland Islands."