Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
"Remember PRD were offering up to $4.25m (SPA) to acquire the corporate entity that holds 100% of Inniss-Trinity Field"
That was the asking price which PRD were never going to pay. They did make a low ball offer to CERP which CERP rejected. I expect that CEG will struggle to renew the licence, in fact they seem to be struggling to continue as a going concern which bodes well for PRD IMO as there could be a firesale of Trinidad assets in the not so distant future.
"Predator will pursue FRAM Exploration Trinidad Ltd for recovery of a loan and enhanced oil profits "
I wonder if any other of CEG operations are getting shutdown through lack of finance?
RNS after hours today?
Bohemia - the annual return has to be accompanied by a copy of the last audited balance sheet of the company. That could be from the 2019 year end accounts if the 2020 accounts have not yet been signed off.
... term I don't see any sign of a bottom as selling pressure will likely ramp up after the month end as those who want out will head for the door at the same time. I'm expecting 280p or even lower unless there is compelling news before the next scheduled update.
Long term this should prove to be a good investment but the question really is whether to wait until a solid bottom is formed before going back in or hope that today's price is a bargain. I am thinking to sit this out for some weeks until the overhang shows signs of clearing. GLA
The Heritage Board must be commended for its detailed explanation about the thinking that led to its decision to discontinue litigation and settle.
There is no doubt that part of the stench surrounding this issue is the fact that it was first raised on a political platform by the Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar followed by the Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, revealing that the owner of company accused of stealing from a state enterprise is his personal friend.
So you have your friend’s company victorious, the Espinet Board that initiated the action fired shortly after the “discovery of the irregularities” and replaced by a Board headed by your personal Attorney Michael Quamina.
The matter is then settled with your friend’s company after a failed arbitration. Quamina has made it clear that he recused himself from anything dealing with AV Oil.
These things happen in small societies and the challenge that Imbert and the Government face is how can you build trust in the state enterprise sector and ensure that there is a strong governance structure.
Heritage and its pre-predecessor company have to answer whether the reports from respected consulting companies that pointed to irregularities were false, fabricated or just plain wrong?
What is the company going to put in place or has put in place to assure the country that the Catshill disaster will not recur and that all of the companies selling crude to Heritage, their production can be verified as accurate?
https://www.guardian.co.tt/article/expect-more-of-the-same-come-budget-day-6.2.1389242.55b04f44f9
With reference to the outstanding charge registered at Companies House (details below) which secure the senior and junior debt facilities, Clause 5 defines undertakings and, with respect to shares, Clause 5.2 states:
The Chargor will procure that the Company shall not:
(a) purchase, cancel or redeem any of its shares; or
(b) issue any further shares (except to the Chargor and provided that such shares will remain subject to the terms of this Deed promptly upon such issue in a manner satisfactory to the Security Trustee and the terms of paragraph (b) of Clause 3.4 (Security Documentation) are complied with);
In each case, without the prior consent in writing of the Security Trustee.
Do these undertakings preclude any share buyback?
Details of charge
Date of creation:
25/06/2021
Charge code:
SC23 4781 0004
Persons entitled:
DNB BANK ASA, LONDON BRANCH AS SECURITY TRUSTEE
Brief description:
Contains fixed charge(s).
Contains negative pledge.
UPDATE 1 – Harbour Energy posts first – half profit, mulls Falkland Islands project exit
2021-09-23 08:02:26
(Adds CEO comment, details on H1 production and Falkland Islands project)
Sept 23 (Reuters) – Harbour Energy was mulling options to exit the Falkland Islands project, the company said on Thursday after posting a first-half pretax profit as production from varied assets and the absence of impairment charges offset weaker oil prices.
Struggling with heavy debt after the oil price crash of 2017 and tepid profits during COVID-19 lockdowns, Premier Oil struck a deal with Chrysaor last year to bolster its oil and gas resources and began trading as Harbour Energy in April. ...
"The extended maintenance programmes, which impacted our production, have been completed. Drilling activity has returned to pre-COVID-19 levels and the merger integration is progressing well, all underpinning strong future cash flow generation," Chief Executive Officer Linda Z Cook said.
The oil and gas producer said it decided to exit the Sea Lion project in Falkland Islands, as it is not deemed a strategic fit for Harbour.
The London-listed firm also planned to exit its exploration licence interests in the Ceará Basin in Brazil and in the Burgos Basin in Mexico.
"This is in line with the Group's exploration strategy, which is focused primarily on infrastructure-led, lower-risk opportunities in areas with an existing Harbour presence," the company added.
Harbour said pre-tax profit came in at $120 million for the six months ended June 30, from a loss of $224 million a year earlier. ...
(Reporting by Shanima A and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) ((Pushkala.A@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @pullthekart; Mobile: +91 852 751 3793 ;)
Harbour Energy, a London-listed oil firm created through a merger between Chrysaor and Premier Oil, has decided to exit the Sea Lion oil field development in the Falkland Islands.
The company has a 60 percent stake in the oil field, with Rockhopper Exploration holding the remaining 40 percent stake.
The field was discovered in 2010 by Rockhopper, but the project development start-up has been delayed several times. In 2014, Premier Oil (now part of Harbour) and Rockhopper targeted first oil for 2019; however, years later, the field development has yet to reach a final investment decision.
"While the Sea Lion discovery has significant resource potential, development of the project is not deemed a strategic fit for Harbour. Therefore the group has decided to explore the options to exit the project and its other license interests in the Falkland Islands," Harbour Energy said Thursday.
Harbour also said it would exit its exploration licence interests in the Ceará Basin in Brazil and in the Burgos Basin in Mexico.
"This is in line with the Group's exploration strategy which is focused primarily on infrastructure-led, lower risk opportunities in areas with an existing Harbour producing presence," the company said.
The Sea Lion project is estimated to hold 2C resources in excess of 500 million barrels.
Rockhopper has noted Harbour's announcement and said it planned to continue to pursue the development of Sea Lion.
Rockhopper and Premier Oil in January 2020 entered into a deal with the Israeli firm Navitas that would see Navitas eventually obtaining a 30% interest in the Sea Lion offshore blocks. Then, the collapse in oil prices and the global pandemic ensued, affecting the deal's completion. In November 2020, the three companies agreed to extend the exclusivity period for the latter's farm-in into the project until September 30, 2021.
Rockhopper said Thursday it was in discussions with Navitas Petroleum LP around its potential entry to the Sea Lion project following Harbour's decision not to proceed.
Full text ...
https://www.oedigital.com/news/490824-harbour-energy-seeks-to-exit-sea-lion-offshore-project-in-falkand-islands
Harbour Energy posts first – half profit
2021-09-23 07:29:17
Sept 23 (Reuters) – Harbour Energy reported a first-half pretax profit on Thursday as production from varied assets and the absence of impairment charges helped offset the drag in oil prices while the oil and gas producer reiterated its 2021 output forecast.
The company, created out of a reverse takeover of Premier Oil by Chrysaor last year, said pre-tax profit came in at $120 million for the six months ended June 30, from a loss of $224 million a year earlier. ...
(Reporting by Shanima A and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) ((Pushkala.A@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @pullthekart; Mobile: +91 852 751 3793 ;)
More details ...
Going against the "extremely strong views” of its own legal team, the Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL) company board has agreed to pay A&V Oil and Gas Ltd over $100 million and grant the company a new ten-year Enhanced Production Services Contract (EPSC) with Heritage Petroleum.
The settlement
The TPHL board said it was made aware by its international financial advisers that the prospects for favourable terms are threatened with pending litigation of this magnitude; more so if findings were to once again go against Petrotrin.
Therefore, the Board once more, admittedly against the strong views of its legal team that appeared before the tribunal, appointed a high-level management team which entered into discussions with AV Oil to explore the terms of a settlement acceptable to both sides.
Those discussions were based solely on operational data and proved very fruitful in arriving at a settlement in the following terms:
(i) The payment to AV Oil of the sums already awarded by the arbitration panel for crude oil already supplied.
(ii) Payment to AV Oil of the sum of TT$18 million in full and final satisfaction of any and all damages suffered by AV Oil in connection with the termination of the IPSC.
(iii) Payment to AV Oil of a sum of money to be agreed by the parties representing reasonable legal costs and expenses incurred by AV Oil in the arbitration proceedings or such sum to be assessed by the tribunal in default of agreement.
(iv) Heritage to grant an Enhanced Production Services Contract (EPSC) to AV Oil for a period of ten (10) years.
(v) AV Oil accepts and acknowledges that Petrotrin shall not be liable for and shall not pay any losses for mobilisation or demobilisation costs and expenses claimed by AV Oil in the Arbitration and AV Oil hereby waives and relinquishes any call for payment in relation thereto including its request for the sum US$460,000.00 as made in the arbitration proceedings before the tribunal.
(vi) AV Oil agrees to pay to Petrotrin all outstanding oil impost fees under the IPSC in the sum of TT$660,000 and fees for Head Licence and other fees in the sum of US$164,000 within the first full month of AV Oil’s payment advice under the new EPSC.
(vii) AV Oil agrees to pay the outstanding funds for abandonment expenses under the IPSC sub-licence in the amount of US$2.2 million.
https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/av-oil-gets-100m-settlement-new-10year-deal-6.2.1388698.ac7c117090
The full statement from Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited
The Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago advises the national community that it has settled the arbitration dispute between itself and A&V Oil and Gas Limited (AV Oil) avoiding the payment of millions of dollars in damages. As an indication of the cordial nature of the settlement, Heritage, the national Oil Company, is entering into an Enhanced Production Service Contract (EPSC) with AV Oil for the purchase of crude oil.
The settlement is rooted in the partial award delivered on the 11th June 2021 by the arbitration panel in favour of AV Oil. In summary the arbitrators, headed by former President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Sir Dennis Byron, found that Petrotrin had failed to establish that AV Oil was engaged in seal-tampering or any other inappropriate practices in the process of the delivery of crude oil to Petrotrin during the period from April 2016 to July 2017.
Based on that finding by the panel, Petrotrin was not entitled to treat any of the crude oil delivered to it by AV Oil as not having been delivered in pursuance of the Incremental Production Service Contract (IPSC) Agreement between the two companies. The findings of the arbitration also mean that AV Oil is entitled to payment of the sum of TT$84,699,879.47 that Petrotrin is holding in escrow in relation to the sums due on its unpaid invoices for the period 1st June 2017 to the 31st December 2017 together with interest at the rate of 3per cent per annum from the due date of each invoice until the date when the principal sum was paid into escrow. Additionally, the arbitrators also awarded payment to AV Oil of the sums due on its unpaid invoices for the crude oil supplied by the company to Petrotrin during the period 1st January 2018 to the 28th February 2018 in the amount of US$2,284,398.40 together with interest at the rate of 3 per cent per annum from the date when each payment fell due until the date of the Award.
Full text ...
https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/petrotrin-and-av-oil-settle-arbitration-dispute-6.2.1388547.322ee144ba
As local capacity in Guyana continues to increase, ExxonMobil says more services are being moved from Trinidad and Tobago to the South American country, where it is the operator of the Stabroek, Kaieteur and Canje Blocks, a report from OilNOW has stated.
According to a recent interview with OilNOW at the Saipem Offshore Construction Facility in Georgetown, President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, said much has changed in Guyana from the early days when the company started exploration activities and made the world-class Liza discovery.
“In the early days, when we started exploration, there was no infrastructure, no expertise, no history to leverage so we had to utilise the existing capability, the existing facilities in Trinidad,” Routledge said. “Over time, now that we have that line of sight to more development, we can continue this investment journey and move more of that work, the facilities, the capability to Guyana.”
The supply chain capacity in the new oil producing country has been growing exponentially over the years.
A growing number of Guyanese companies have been entering partnerships and starting operations to service the expanding offshore activities where multiple exploration appraisal and development drilling campaigns are underway.
Local fabrication company Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services Inc. (GOGSSI) recently provided the workforce to Saipem for the assembly, testing, coating, and loading of massive subsea jumpers for the second phase of ExxonMobil’s Liza development. This work was previously done in Trinidad.
“I’m really excited to say that by sometime in 2022, virtually all of that supply chain, all of that work will have been moved to Guyana from Trinidad,” Routledge stated, pointing out that this will be a major milestone for the country and a significant step forward for local content development.
Already, GOGSSI and another local company—Industrial Fabrications Inc (InFab), are fabricating equipment for the Prosperity FPSO which is being constructed in Singapore for ExxonMobil’s third development in Guyana.
Additionally, as the largest local shore base facility – Guyana Shore Base Inc., continues to expand its operations and capabilities, other such facilities are also being planned in anticipation of around 10 FPSOs expected to be producing oil off the country’s coast in the coming years.
To date, ExxonMobil has found more than 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent offshore Guyana and is pursuing an aggressive exploration campaign that will see it drilling over 50 wells through 2025.
https://www.guardian.co.tt/business/exxon-moving-almost-all-supply-work-from-tt-to-guyana-by-2022-6.2.1386967.19f19cd21a
Moody’s has voiced fears about The Bahamas’ continued access to capital markets and high interest burden if it is unable to successfully refinance maturing bond issues in four consecutive years from 2024 onwards.
The credit rating agency, in an opinion accompanying its Friday downgrade that pushed The Bahamas’ creditworthiness further into ‘junk’ status, warned that a failure to set the Government’s finances back on a sustainable path will increasingly force it into foreign currency borrowing and magnify its liquidity risks regarding the willingness of lenders to provide funding.
“While we expect the Government to meet its financing needs in fiscal year 2021-2022 without upward pressure on borrowing costs or liquidity risk, in the absence of fiscal consolidation as envisioned by the Government’s medium-term fiscal outlook, a continued reliance on international bond issuance will increase liquidity risks,” Moody’s said.
“The Government will need to refinance maturing international bonds in 2024 and in 2026, when the Government will see four consecutive years of maturing international bonds. Rolling over these maturing bonds at higher interest rates would not only add to the Government’s already high interest burden, but could lead to increased liquidity pressure if the Government loses market access.”
Moody’s warning came one day after Marla Dukharan, the former Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) chief economist, predicted to a regional seminar organised by the Trinidad-based Arthur Lok Jack Business School that the Bahamas will be the next Caribbean nation to default on its debt and enter an International Monetary Fund (IMF) adjustment programme.
While her prediction that this would occur within 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic’s start never happened, Ms Dukharan said: “The Bahamas is having what many consider to be a landmark election today (Thursday), and I wish them well in securing a government that has the country’s best interests at heart.
“They have been, in The Bahamas, hit by their country’s two most severe crises in their history, Hurricane Dorian and the pandemic, within a six-month timeframe. This has, as you might imagine, had major socio-economic implications, which is no fault of the current [Minnis] administration.
“It was unfortunate timing for them, but which in my opinion will lead The Bahamas to default on and restructure its debt within an IMF programme in the very near future.”
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/sep/20/moodys-fears-bond-refinancing/?news
The scale of the economic and fiscal challenges facing the new Philip Davis-led administration were laid bare Friday, after Moody’s further downgraded the Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness.
The credit rating agency, in slashing the country’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to ‘Ba3’ from ‘Ba2’, warned that the devastation inflicted by COVID-19 and Hurricane Dorian will have “lasting consequences” for the Bahamian economy with stopover arrivals only returning to pre-pandemic numbers in 2024.
This latest action plunges The Bahamas further into non-investment grade or ‘junk’ status, with Moody’s adding that the country’s $10.356bn national debt is now more than six times’ bigger than the Government’s annual income or revenue base.
“The negative outlook reflects the ongoing risks to the credit profile related to the pace of fiscal consolidation, which will be determined largely by how quickly tourism activity recovers,” Moody’s added. “A slower pace of fiscal consolidation would result in higher borrowing requirements and exacerbate funding risks.
“The reliance on indirect taxation -- VAT and excise taxes -- makes government tax collection more sensitive to the speed of the economic recovery. A slower recovery would place downward pressure on revenue and limit the speed of fiscal consolidation, and prospects for debt stabilisation. Larger-than-expected fiscal deficits in turn would increase reliance on external market borrowing and could create external liquidity pressure.”
Moody’s suggested that an improvement in The Bahamas’ sovereign credit rating was unlikely in the near term. It added: “The implementation of fiscal and economic policies that support a fiscal consolidation process that places government debt on a more durable downward trajectory would likely result in a return to a stable outlook.
“An improvement in debt affordability, which includes relying more on lower-cost domestic and external official sources of funding over more expensive external market issuance, could also support a return to a stable outlook.
“A slower pace of fiscal consolidation that contributes to tightening financing conditions, and a rise in borrowing costs, which would challenge the Government's ability to finance fiscal deficits and maturing debt would likely lead to a further downgrade.”
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/sep/17/moody/?news
Leo says that CERP was running on fumes. Is CEG also running on fumes or is it worse than that?
Heritage Petroleum Limited says clean-up work is ongoing at the reported oil accumulation along the municipal drain at Point Ligoure, Point Fortin. The following is a press release from Heritage Petroleum:
Heritage Petroleum Company Limited (Heritage) continues its response to the oil accumulation reported along the municipal drain at Point Ligoure, Point Fortin, today, Monday September 13th, 2021.
The Company first received reports of the accumulation yesterday (Sunday 12th September 2021) and immediately initiated its response protocols. In addition to the ongoing surveillance, containment, cleanup and remediation work, the company has deployed additional resources such as booms, vessels and manpower at the site and risk assessments are ongoing.
Heritage Petroleum advises that there are temporary restrictions to unauthorized persons. The public is therefore advised to comply with all directional signs and instructions and utilize the alternative routes available. Failure to so do may jeopardise the timeliness of the clean-up activities in addition to introducing risk to unauthorized personnel.
The company continues to work closely with the relevant authorities to ensure that all operations are conducted in a safe, efficient and timely manner as per compliance requirements. Heritage will continue to keep all updated on the recovery efforts.
https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/heritage-petroleum-says-cleanup-work-ongoing-6.2.1384910.06de72cac6
Ignore that link and use this one. 2019 CERP accounts were filed on 18th August 2020.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05901339/filing-history
Srdoddy - agree that the outstanding 2020 statutory accounts will not answer all the outstanding questions, but it will give some indication of how big a hole in the finances needed to be filled in 2021. It will show those who seem to believe that ex CERP assets alone generates free cash flow that they are likely sadly mistaken. CERP lost £4.12m pre tax in 2019.
CERP 2019 year end accounts were never published via RNS but they are available to view here ...
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/gccGd262m8_jbqaUbay_bgqR73qRqORhzEceo3RVixQ/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3MFSDT2OT%2F20210911%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210911T114109Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEKP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIGB2M%2FERZxiLmozMOHP7ooWgT4qh%2FuCG4lk9QXVBHIbgAiEAjzarfraNaTe0WYgB9m0XmAbDVw4vQT5OUzvWq0X9rfMqgwQI7P%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FARADGgw0NDkyMjkwMzI4MjIiDE0fBcedWI99D61xWCrXA5l%2FEE8vdUhaejY4ibOUIk%2BkAhs2hxCUNqi6LkxZXt8GF5moTK9sp67qDKVuC1g6484ewx6nTBru2NY%2BNQVzfoYvwA0DociTUJww03ti%2BhIaBCb6z2ZMlKKgImtX7x%2BA%2FksWh%2F4GsQoRhwMyOuuIxBXZ0Jo6Ce75zhjCpzv3wMQ88iehaFf5UrHM1jDSjz%2BefZzE2PUMAR1ztsO%2BhF9eq60FMxkL2iexF8GryGej174Rj4efCZRUnvPB2jGkbhkRVMxshj0NlFpsLnRyUYG7IsqbqL6PbUhZuZKskRGwc4G0xdPfj9BWBel7YKbbXbqfeeGyQiC1E0ApobLYbSrBLDo8IQUJsDWxjgOetlvYtO7hZhWz7o2t4xS%2FSM9teY95y20c1LGcjGlOg9P5UOtE%2B%2B9FHR3uZVv9wldQ%2Fb5aeSQSkHIn3%2BIAVKKqY81rpOfWXhUUhQGdq%2BN6zvr4Bk3427BTNnaqfbshkLfaY3bfK2gLm%2BcBjODq%2F9M2tKgKNYCHASUOxfbzW0X6i1uvfV1qvA24obZcpYi1z2GSLs5geIVqZ1rT2BpLsNVNfVOaIiGmGtdQ0PiAbLHRXQCGGcgrwR2cBn7qmZGP3aQBP163dG5iAB2j0yFW8TDVjfKJBjqlAZdC78PViqNU5SbtHrLZ5jbDngDJCzCTE3Monc8tAx7nJNpJfgzahwQpOQ1SMgodTMNAuV0ies99q2lr9iby96wZ0zi8Q29i%2FCPiC0J5BIEPtb%2BUmE9yAhTjc2cj%2Bps7DcoL59beIJdP586PAqQ%2BMwDjwtQWiLuGOQLsoPDDDrvbEdnB2DmGBzsbMiQ3nTZ%2BjW6sPAO7qkNFuEMvRG%2BA%2FNlCSQKKiQ%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline%3Bfilename%3D%22companies_house_document.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=5c76a58c5e9ac88973acc06f626ff7ddbb45bce50e54aa63adf11d30c28d8409