GTE: friend or foe?27 Feb 2019 21:17
Time will tell, but if AMER does have first right of refusal, it looks more like a spanner in the works than a co-operative process.
Logic says that if GTE and AMER were working together, then they would have had a deal in place and all the transactions could go through together.
It is somewhat difficult to see DC wanting to give a helping hand to the CEO who stole the company that he had been building for a decade. Additionally, GTE probably did bid against OXY for the farm in, so that also might have soured relationships, particularly if GTE was one of the bidders who offered more: quite insulting, in fact! AMER and GTE are rivals in the Putumayo basin, each having large holdings and adding voraciously as opportunities arrive. AMER operates in bargain basement, whilst GTE pays top dollar for its deals.
AMER are much more likely to want 100% of the block and operatorship, to then go 50/50 with their preferred partner, OXY. The conundrum is, of course, that the 1st drill was to be off the adjacent block, in which GTE's interest has just increased!
It is a little odd that AMER did not RNS the change of partner and join in the fanfare of upcoming drills alongside GTE, if all was well between the parties.
I could be wrong in making the assumption that it is AMER who has first refusal: that assumption is based on the recent history. Vetra and C & C Energia were awarded the block back in 2010 on 50/50 basis and then Energia was swallowed up by Pacific Rubiales, from whom we acquired various blocks, including the 50% of Put 8. No one else seems to have been involved post 2010.
"The Corporation and its partner, VETRA Exploration and Production Colombia S.A. ("VETRA"), bid as a Consortium and were selected as the successful bidders for the right to explore for oil and natural gas on Putumayo Block-8, an approximately 103,000 acre block in the Putumayo Basin in southern Colombia. C&C Energia and VETRA each hold a 50% participating interest, with VETRA being the Operator. The selection is subject to final approval by, and execution of an E&P Contract with the ANH. In summary the Consortium made a total work commitment of US$20.9 million for seismic and drilling. The Consortium also bid a 2% "x-factor", which equates to an incremental royalty on production from the block."
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