RE: RNS X 2!22 Jan 2024 12:31
Basically, UOG wanted to sell their 22% to the operator. The operator made it impossible to sell, so UOG decided to stop paying for their share of the costs. Now, the operator have said to UOG, you owe us $3.8M, pay up or we'll take over your 22%. UOG are basically saying, yeah fine. So effectively, UOG are disposing of their 22% of the asset for $3.8M.
Since UOG stopped paying the costs but got paid by EGPC for their share of the oil these last few months (with more to come until the operator actually takes over ownership), they now have a decent bank balance and won't participate in AS any more.
UOG now have $1.3M in the bank, a few hundred K coming in from EGPC soon but owe BP $1.1M. Whether BP will demand immediate repayment remains to be seen but even if they do, that leaves UOG with about $1M in the bank. Since we're not paying for AS any more, our costs are quite low so hopefully this cash will last until the farmout deal is completed.