Possibility7 Jul 2021 18:19
Thanks to Zengas on the SAVE borad for the info below. SAVE has interests in Chad and Nigeria; recommend for those who don't know it.
7/7/20 AEI
Why Delonex is talking with ex-Tullow Oil boss
Paul McDade needs to secure a first asset on the double so that he can launch his new company in style.
The brand-new oil company Afentra, founded at the start of the year by Paul McDade, has been scouring Africa for its first investment opportunity. According to our sources, McDade, his head of operations Ian Cloke - a fellow former Tullow Oil executive - and the company financial director Anastasia Deulina are currently in talks with the British teams of US private equity firm Warburg Pincus, owner of Delonex. The topic of their discussion is the purchase of Chadian blocks H, Largeau III, DOC, and DOD, Delonex's only assets of real value, as well as various blocks in Ethiopia and Kenya still at a very preliminary exploration phase prior to any drilling.
As we revealed (AI, 07/10/20), in September 2020 Delonex hired Scotiabank to oversee the sale of its permits in Chad. The man in charge of the project at the bank, Moncef Attia, and technical director Alonso Maggo estimate that the assets Delonex acquired from United Hydrocarbon Chad Ltd in 2017 for $35m could produce up to 85,000 bpd (according to Delonex). A drilling campaign was scheduled for 2021 but druming up interest from the project was hampered by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Afentra is looking at several other investment opportunities, including Glencore's producing fields in the Doba basin of southern Chad.
McDade needs to find a first asset as soon as possible to give Afentra credibility. He wants to avoid going down the same path as his former boss and Tullow Oil founder Aidan Heavey, who has not managed to secure a single asset for Boru Energy, the firm he created two years ago, despite having the $1bn Carlyle put at his disposal.
Warburg wants to forget about Delonex
Warburg Pincus has reason to be frustrated in its investment in Delonex. The private equity firm is keen to quickly put the whole episode behind it, while bringing in a few million dollars to make up for some of the capital spent over the past decade. The junior oil firm has gone from mishap to mishap: it abandoned its block negotiation in Mozambique and failed to make any discovery in Ethiopia or Nigeria, where it had thought of buying Petrobras Oil & Gas BV, finally acquired by Africa Oil. On top of which, sensing that the company was nearing its end, the general manager Raul Dhir jumped ship in July 2020 to take over the helm of Tullow Oil (AI, 17/07/20).
When contacted by Africa Intelligence, Afentra did not wish to reply to our line of enquiry.
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