Member Info for FlyingF

Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia’s top energy official issued another warning to oil short-sellers, just over a week before the OPEC+ alliance is due to meet.

“I keep advising them that they will be ouching — they did ouch in April,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday. “I don’t have to show them my cards and I’m not a poker player. But I’d tell them: ‘Watch out’.”

I cant see a merged larger company still based in the NS being valued any higher than the sum of the parts are at the moment . That the TW deal looks poor , self serving and a wasted opportunity, is a given. So why did 74 % of SH vote for it ?

I still hope we may find out .

At the recent presentation MF was asked if they were seeking an overseas deal . He answered yes but I cant say any more at the moment and wanted to move on. He could have just said yes, but sort of implied there was more to say which suggests he may be in talks ? Wishful thinking maybe ! but a big overseas deal plus a move to the main market is whats needed IMV to get the SP flying again , so I think its a waiting game .

MF did at least acknowledge he was aware the market didn't like the deal and he had some convincing to do. Saying our SP performance was similar to peers may be true but then most of them haven't made a large acquisition and Kist purchase may be smaller than SQZ was interested in but the SP did go up 10% on the back of it not down 20%!!
However, 2 positives for me was the move to the Footsie 250 being considered and the strong suggestion that he is looking overseas for the next deal both of which IMV will give the SP a significant boost .

GL
Mercuria have quasi control at 25% , the other 2.89% is not in their name as such.
Buying 10% of the equity back at this level would make sense . If it leaves Merc with 27 .5 % what difference does it make ? They have control either way so I don't see a contradiction .

"unless they know something we don't"
Cant agree more Muckle ! That's the hope I'm clinging to anyway. After all, who invests £2 million in a penny share (at the time) when the only prospect back then that I can remember was Columbus which they were getting jerked around on by BG ?
Then there's the support for the SP and BOD at much higher levels during the Kistos bid followed by the supporting vote this (on the surface )awful deal ?
Can only assume they are closer to the BOD than we are......

You would expect the BOD to at least comment on this and quickly , pretty deplorable if they don't . I would expect them to carry on regardless though , they're toast if they pull it IMO . There is of course the hope that there will be a nice surprise on completion or soon after .... queue usual question re why did large SH go for it ....

It will be interesting to see what they pay for NS assets?

Likewise , rarely comment but I have a holding here and appreciate the efforts of Looed and others , will happily contribute again if you provide a link
ATB

Unstable UK tax regime may lead to North Sea assets being ‘mothballed’
Mitch Flegg, chief executive at Serica Energy, speaking at Energy Voice's Future North Sea event.

There’s a risk of “prematurely having to mothball” parts of the North Sea industry due to the UK’s unstable tax regime, an industry event has heard.

The Future North Sea conference at Aberdeen’s P&J Live was told of the possible risks the UK’s fiscal set up may bring for oil and gas assets.

Mitch Flegg, chief executive at Serica Energy (LON: SQZ), told event attendees: “I think exploration is important and we believe that infrastructure-led exploration is the way forward, we’ve got great infrastructure, let’s use it.

“The issue is around the commerciality of some of these projects, it is vital that we have the security of supply.

“But in an unstable tax regime, it’s going to be very difficult for companies to make those investments to utilise the infrastructure that we’ve got and if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.

“We run the risk of prematurely having to mothball some of the North Sea because people cannot or will not invest due to the tax instability that we have at the moment.”

© Supplied by Wullie Marr / DC Tho
Future North Sea 2023. Left to Right: Mitch Flegg, chief executive at Serica Energy and Beema Sharma CEO of CCU
Speaking on a panel chaired by Energy Voice’s Europe editor, Allister Thomas, Mr Flegg fielded questions on decarbonised production.

The Serica boss shared the stage with Rob Fox, managing director of Europe for SLB, Beena Sharma, chief executive of CCU International and Iain Martin, CCUS theme lead, Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC).

The key takeaway from the second-panel session at the Future North Sea event was that oil and gas are here to stay, however, the UK needs to import fewer hydrocarbons and look to reduce the emissions produced in domestic production.

Supporting Mr Flegg’s belief that hydrocarbons are needed in order to deliver the energy transition, NZTC’s Iain Martin said: “It is important to sustain our existing industries, the oil and gas industry, not ignoring exploration.

“It makes sense making use of that infrastructure to drive down the costs into exploration for potentially new oil and gas reserves to enable that ambition.

I remember when the BKR deal was done and awaiting completion the SP still rolled around 20's getting as low as 22 p one day which I thought was crazy given the facts , but it was only immediately after completion we saw the huge initial rise so MAYBE ? in March we will see a something of a recovery ..... Its a 'PIG IN A POKE' of a deal but then again 74% of voting SH liked it so possibly the rest of the market will ?

IF it is a YES , the real question has always been and still remains ''Why have the major SH supported the worst deal since Gordon Brown sold the nations gold at the base of the market'' ?
Why are the Hardys ok seeing their vast fortune trashed ?
As NewKOTB has commented , there must be more going on here than meets the eye, or maybe given what else is occurring in the country I really have woken up in an episode of the 'Twilight Zone' ....

Mercuria are probably in shock after reading Stahels assessment that the deal is still 45pct accretive for SQZ ? They must have thought they'd done enough to insure they were the only ones to benefit and will pull out in protest .....

Had a reply from ACW, this was the main gist ,

''The Board fully believes that, in the complex world in which we have to operate, the Company will be much stronger and resilient and able to maintain its growth objectives as a result of the transaction than on a stand-alone basis and stands by its recommendation.''

Not unexpected but it was nice to get a response.

I read it through quite quickly late last night , was a bit taken aback when he said Mercuria deserved 111 mio in shares due to the NAV of the assets? He made no mention of the £57 mio in cash , dumping 279 mio in debt and more shares to the founders ? Maybe I just missed that bit ?

Don't have as many as some of you but fwiw just registered a NO vote with my broker .

I guess it is true ! Mercuria only doing the deal if they get effective control of SQZ , 28.9 pct between them and their friends is just that . 30 pct and they are obliged to make a bid for the company so keeping it just below , For Mitch to say this isn't an issue because they once had a holder with 18pct I thought was rather disingenuous . Yes anyone could buy in the market up to any level but this would force the shareprice to surge and highlight what was occurring, not just handed it on a plate .

Still dont understand why major holders would agree to this especially the Hardys ,as its actually their money !unlike the intstis.

Not sure why Piper thinks its a choice between short term value or overseas M+A ? With £600 mio I would have thought both were possible, share BB , Hurricane , Char farm out, etc, etc. This deal is just a spoiler deal to keep the BOD safe in their jobs.

''Sqz were in such a powerful position''
My thoughts entirely !! I was trying to give the BOD the benefit of the doubt in a 4 year wait for another deal , I thought I had a tiger by the tail but it turned into a lapdog ! Surely the larger shareholders wont approve this ? I will be voting no with (most) of the rest of you ..

I agree , Mercuria are the real saving grace here given the clout that can swing and their knowledge . There must be other plans afoot else why would they want shares and other large shareholders , Hardys etc go for this ?