RE: Upside potential4 Jan 2020 21:38
While the asset is appealing and BP’s support welcome, taking the United pitch to market has been “very tough”, Larkin continued, noting there had been disappointing results across the sector and there was some uncertainty around the impact that Brexit may have.
That United has managed to line up a cash raise of $6.25mn, through the issue of around 159mn shares, is a “validation of the company and the deal”, the CEO continued.
Despite this challenge, United is “always looking to grow our business. In the first half of 2020, the focus will be on bedding down this acquisition and bringing it into the United group. There’ll be no M&A in the first half, I’d have thought,” Larkin said, although allowing that this might change if an unmissable opportunity presents itself.
Operations
The acquisition will involve United taking a 22% stake in the Abu Sennan concession, through the purchase of Rockhopper Egypt. This will provide around 1,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day to United, with 2.66mn boe net of 2P reserves, as of mid-2019. Production is rising on the licence, from 4,000 boepd at the beginning of 2019 to around 5,000 boepd.
Kuwait Energy is the operator of the Abu Sennan asset and it plans to drill four wells in 2020, one per quarter. The operator is “very receptive to our ideas and we are looking to work with them to find the most efficient work programme”. Keeping a non-operated presence suits United for now, he said, as it keeps overheads low but that may change as the company grows.
Kuwait Energy has a 25% stake as does Global Connect, while Dover Investments has 28%. Kuwait Energy carries Dover’s costs and receives Dover’s share of cost oil plus 7.5% of the company’s profit oil.
In the near term, the plan is to increase production on the fields but there is some exploration upside on the licence and it makes sense to pursue these. Well costs are cheap, Larkin noted, at a gross cost of $3 million per well. Drilling was successful in three of four wells in 2017, with further successes seen this year at the Al Jahraa-11 well, which was producing just under 800 bpd of oil in June.