LONDON (Alliance News) - Anglo African Oil & Gas PLC on Monday said it has restarted drilling operations on well TLP-103C at its Tilapia site in the Republic of the Congo.
Following an unscheduled rig inspection, the Anglo African staff detected an issue on the elmagco brake system. Drilling was suspended to allow the rig company to remove and repair these parts.
The oil & gas developer said the broken parts have now been repaired and reconditioned by the drilling contractor and reinstalled to the rig.
Anglo African confirmed that suspension occurred before intersection of any of the target horizons.
Drilling recommenced at a depth of 660 metres, the company said, and it expects to reach target depth towards the end of December.
Meanwhile, the drilling contractor has agreed to compensate Anglo African for a substantial amount of its additional costs which have been incurred with respect to this delay.
"This delay has been extremely frustrating not only for the company but, more importantly, for its shareholders," said Executive Chairman David Sefton.
"However, it was clearly the right decision for Anglo African to insist on a suspension of drilling pending these repairs rather than risk a serious incident should those parts have failed when intersecting a target horizon," added Sefton.
In a separate statement, Anglo African said it has negotiated with Sandabel LP to convert GBP750,000 of unsecured loan notes at a conversion price of 6.3 pence. The company said it issued 11.9 million shares to Sandabel.
Following the redemption, the total amount currently outstanding pursuant to all loan notes issued to Sandabel will be GBP250,000.
Looking forward, Anglo African said it is reviewing alternative sources of capital financing available to it in order to ensure that the capital required by the company is secured on the best terms and takes fully into account the interest of shareholders.
Anglo African shares were trading 5.3% higher on Monday at 6.95 pence each.