Petro Matad update30 Jan 2021 10:26
As a LTH over over 10 years i am disappointed with the continued postings by some people on this B.B.. Petro Matad has a fine CEO in Mike Buck who has always been totally honest with investors and the media. It wasn't his fault that a world wide pandemic occurred just after oil was discovered by P.M.. So I recently contacted P.M. by email and received this reply:
Dear Mr Edwards,
Thank you for your enquiry.
The current development approval process in Mongolia has not been used in many years (no recent success until ours),and has only previously involved applications from Chinese state owned entities (Sinopec, Petro China). This is the first time a publicly listed foreign company has tried to move from exploration to exploitation in Mongolia and we are working closely with the Government at all stages of the approval process to ensure we secure the Exploitation Licence as soon as possible.
Regarding your specific questions on what happens if the Government strategically withholds or delays the licences, we would note that the new Mongolian Government that came into power in June 2020 stated in its recently published four year plan that increasing international investment in the oil and gas sector is a priority, highlighted in their continued backing of the new refinery being built in-country, which you reference. The Government also understand that if Petro Matad – the first international company to find oil and this being the only discovery in the last 10 years – is not allowed to retain and develop its discovery then the likelihood of attracting new foreign investors will be severely compromised.
On your point regarding official written support from the Mongolian Government, the Petroleum Law in Mongolia offers no guarantee that a successful explorer will be allowed to develop its discovery, this is the same across many Production Sharing jurisdictions and not in any way unique to this country. However, as we have noted above, the Mongolian Government’s support for Petro Matad is evident in that at each stage of the application for the Exploitation Licence approvals have been granted, albeit at a slower rate than expected – driven in part by the challenges that COVID-19 has presented globally.
We can however confirm that meetings are going ahead virtually due to the current COVID-19 restrictions and that the Reserve Report approval meeting was held online, for example.
Finally, we would like to assure you that we are doing all we can to secure the licence, to progress the development and to mature the company from a pure explorer to an exploration and production company with growth ambitions. The company is working continuously with the government at all levels to secure the permits it requires. We see no sign that the government is trying to interfere with this process to the company’s detriment.
We appreciate your continued support.
Kind regards,
Petro Matad
Sign In
Follow the stocks
