Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
“The third exploration period for the southern licences would last for three years and will require a further exploration well to be drilled before the period expires, failing which the licences would be forfeited. An extension of the licences will attract an annual licence fee (the amount to be determined during the renewal process) and requires a relinquishment of 50 per cent of the licence area.
“Notification of renewal of the licences has been submitted to the appropriate ministry, and the area to be relinquished has been identified as being the area equivalent to that over the shallower water depths covered by the southern licences (less than around 200 feet).”
BPC had until end-March 2021 to signal whether it will seek to renew its oil exploration licences, with the existing ones set to expire at end-June this year following the drilling of its first Perseverance One exploratory well, which failed to detect the commercial oil quantities it was seeking.
The name switch to Challenger, which reflects the fact the company is no longer Bahamas-centric given its obtaining of offshore exploration licences in Uruguay, and the acquisition that has given it assets in Trinidad & Tobago and Suriname, comes as Simon Potter steps down as chief executive although he will remain on the Board as a non-executive director.
He will be replaced as chief executive by Eytan Uliel, the company’s commercial director, while Ross McDonald, the former Bahamas chief for Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), is also leaving the Board. James Smith, the former Central Bank governor and minister of state for finance, remains as a non-executive deputy chairman.
Documents relating to the rights offering indicate that BPC has yet to settle licence fees the Government believes are outstanding from its second exploration period that includes the spudding of Perseverance One. They also further indicate that the company is unlikely to drill another exploratory well in The Bahamas unless it secures a joint venture partner to share the financial and technical load.
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/apr/28/bpc-dismisses-investors-exit-old-news/?news
The Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) yesterday dismissed environmental activist joy over an investor’s divestment of an £11.25m stake in the firm as old news.
The oil explorer, in a statement to Tribune Business responding to reports that Lombard Odier has exited its holdings in the company, said the move will not impact the financing for its development and exploration plans in Trinidad & Tobago and elsewhere.
“BPC is not reliant on funding from Lombard Odier for any part of its forward investment programme in activities anywhere in its portfolio, spanning not only exploration in The Bahamas but onshore production, appraisal, development and exploration in Trinidad, an extended well test and subsequent production onshore Suriname and exploration offshore Uruguay,” BPC said.
“The Lombard Odier facility provided capital that contributed to BPC operating, drilling and safely completing the Perseverance One project nearly three months ago. As part of that facility, Lombard Odier temporarily owned BPC shares. At no time were Lombard Odier a part of the ‘project’. As far as BPC is aware, Lombard Odier has already disposed of its entire interest in the company.”
Oil exploration opponents, though, were elated at developments. Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, executive director of the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF), told Tribune Business: “It’s very clear that the world is shifting away from fossil fuels so it’s not surprising that funding for this industry is drying up.
“Renewable energy is a future for The Bahamas that actually creates jobs. Financing for fossil fuel exploration is becoming increasingly difficult to find, especially in new pristine locations around the world such as The Bahamas. Oil drilling in the Bahamas contradicts our own climate commitments under the Paris agreement....
“There is an opportunity for The Bahamas to send a strong message now that we also take our future seriously. There is no good reason that were are aware of to renew the [BPC] oil exploration licences.”
The developments come as BPC revealed it will “relinquish” 50 percent of the area where it was previously allowed to explore for oil as part of its licence renewal bid.
The oil exploration outfit, in disclosing plans to rename itself Challenger Energy Group and recapitalise by raising a further $9.67m from existing “qualifying shareholders” via a rights issue, confirmed it had submitted formal notice of its licence renewal application to the Ministry of the Environment and Housing.
Indicating that the area given up was largely “shallower water depths” where the prospects of striking commercial oil quantities are less, BPC said: “The company will seek to renew its 100 percent interest in the southern licences by extending the licences in to the third exploration period.
The Daily Star - " Leo's company Tulip Oil (he has been CEO for only a few months) was acquired by Kistos PLC last week.
I personally would be pleased if he rejoined the BPC BoD and helped to fulfil his vision of turning CERP (then BPC, now CEG) into a 500m company. "
Leo has been chairman of Tulip for a very long time not a few months and you need to be aware that Tulip Oil Netherlands, subject of a sale to Kistos, is a subsidiary of Tulip Oil and not the whole company. On completion of the transaction Tulip will be an equity and debt holder in Kistos.
Leo is unlikely to be going anywhere soon as Tulip now intends to advance the development of it's 90% interest in Rhein Petroleum.
No rusty old assets here, which will disappoint SK and undermine his attempt to talk the sp lower.
In November, Premier Oil said it was in “final negotiations” with contractors ahead of making a final investment decision on Tolmount East.
“Once on-stream, Tolmount East will help extend plateau production from the Tolmount Area”, it said, while Premier is also looking at other prospects which may feed into the main area infrastructure.
The Tolmount project, which began installation and drilling work at the end of last year, is targeting first production in the second quarter of this year.
Harbour Energy will become the operator once Premier Oil completes its merger with Chrysaor, making what will be the largest-producing North Sea oil firm.
Last week it was revealed that KNOC, owner of Dana Petroleum, is seeking to sell off a 10% stake in Tolmount.
The firm owns a total of 50% of the southern North Sea gas project, which lies around 40 miles east of the Yorkshire coast.
Dana has said the Tolmount field, in the Southern North Sea, is expected to produce around 90 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) gross over its lifetime, with Dana’s net share being 28,000 boe per day at its peak.
https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/295396/premier-oil-tolmount-east-timeline/
LEIDEN, the Netherlands – Heerema’s semisubmersible crane vessel Sleipnir has installed the platform at the Premier Oil-operated Tolmount gas field development in the UK southern North Sea.
The project consisted of installing the 2,350-metric ton (2,590-ton) jacket and 2,500-metric ton (2,756-ton) topsides constructed by Rosetti Marino.
The Tolmount field is 40 km (25 mi) off the coast of Hull, UK, in a water depth of about 51 m (167 ft).
The jacket and topsides arrived at the Tolmount field following a 5,390-km (3,349-mi) journey from Rosetti's yard in Ravenna, Italy.
The Sleipnir traveled to the Tolmount field on Oct. 7. Installation began on Oct. 12 when the jacket was lifted from the Heerema barge H-408. After finalizing jacket and pile installation, the Sleipnir lifted and installed the topsides on Oct. 13, over five hours, to complete the Tolmount platform project.
The Tolmount platform will be a normally unattended installation.
Rosetti managed the construction and installation of the low-carbon design jacket and topsides on behalf of Premier Oil. The project involved more than 1,100,000 manhours, was executed LTI free, and was completed in 26 months.
Tolmount is on track to deliver first gas in 2Q 2021.
Photos ...
https://www.offshore-mag.com/field-development/article/14185460/tolmount-gas-field-platform-installed-in-the-uk-north-sea
Tolmount – 50.0% operated
The Tolmount gas field is situated in Block 42/28d, in the UK southern North Sea. It was discovered in 2011 with further appraisal drilling in 2013. The Tolmount platform was successfully installed in October 2020. First gas is scheduled for Q2 2021. The Greater Tolmount Area includes the Tolmount East discovery which is being progressed towards a final investment decision.
The Tolmount discovery lies in Block 42/28d of the P1330 license, approximately 40mi east of the Yorkshire coast in the southern North Sea, UK.
Block 42/28d was first awarded to Dana Petroleum Exploration & Production (E&P) in December 2005. E.ON E&P farmed into the project in 2010 buying 50% equity, and operatorship of the project.
E.ON sold its entire UK exploration and production (E&P) assets to Premier Oil (Premier) in April 2016, transferring ownership and operatorship of the Tolmount field to the latter. Premier and Dana Petroleum E&P each own a 50% interest in the field.
Tolmount is one of UK’s biggest gas prospects since Breagh, and has significant upside potential. First gas from Tolmount is targeted for Q2 2021 at a peak production rate of around 250 million cubic feet a day (mmcfd).
Why do you keep focussing on WTI rather than Brent?
BP currently has over 20 billion shares in issue.
HBR is generating huge amounts of free cash at current oil and gas prices. The SP is largely irrelevant at the moment until the AGM by which time there will be clarity on financials and strategy. Those panicking are probably in for a short term kill which was never going to happen. If that's you and you need to cash out before Q3 then you have probably made an error of judgement. If you are able to hold until Q3/Q4 then I believe you will be richly rewarded if you can also take advantage of this amazing buying opportunity.
This is my opinion and not advice. DYOR
BP, Rio Tinto and others sell assets for financial and environmental reasons, in possible boon for those who still embrace fossil fuels
For all the talk of a transition away from fossil fuels, players in the energy sector are still willing to bet there is more money to be made in oil and coal.
Major oil companies such as BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC are selling billions of dollars of assets to bolster their finances and reduce carbon emissions, while mining companies including Anglo American PLC and Rio Tinto PLC have exited coal projects.
Snapping up those unloved assets is a band of smaller competitors that wager that fossil fuels will remain the world’s main energy source for years to come, particularly in developing countries, and that underinvestment by larger rivals will further boost commodity prices.
For the big companies, these sales generate funds typically used to pay down debt and help them make the case that they are unloading polluting projects as they face growing investor pressure to map out their future in a lower-carbon economy. But, these projects—and their emissions—aren’t going away.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/energy-giants-ditch-oil-and-coal-projects-smaller-rivals-want-them-11618997401
Harbour Energy has a strong, international exploration portfolio with significant acreage positions in some of the world’s most prolific and emerging oil and gas basins.
We have an extensive inventory of exploration opportunities ranging from near-field, high-value opportunities to high-impact, drill-ready prospects.
We believe that where oil and gas has already been discovered, more will be found. Our strategy is therefore to create value through infrastructure-led exploration around our core producing UK assets, while building a high-graded and balanced Norwegian Continental Shelf and international portfolio to sustain longer term production and growth. Our focus is to target emerging and underexplored plays in proven hydrocarbon basins around the globe.
Brazil
Block CE-M-717 (50% operated interest); Block CE-M-661 (30% non-operated interest)
Harbour Energy holds an operated interest in Block CE-M-717 in Brazil's Ceará Basin and a 30 percent non-operated interest in Block CE-M-661.
The Ceará basin is a Cretaceous rift basin with world-class oil-prone source rocks. We expect to drill our first well on Block CE-M-717 in 2022, targeting the stacked Berimbau and Maraca prospects.
Indonesia
Tuna Block (50% operated interest)
Our operated interest in the Tuna offshore block close to the Indonesian Vietnam maritime border was awarded by the Indonesian Government in March 2007. The c. 100 mmboe Tuna field was discovered in April 2014 and will be appraised via a two well programme in 2021.
Norway
On 19 January 2021 we were awarded a total of six licences with a variety of work programmes in the Norwegian APA 2020 Offshore Licensing Round (Awards in Predefined Areas). Three of these licenses are operated (PL1114; PL1093; PL1087) with the remaining three operated by Lundin (PL1092; PL1089) and Neptune (PL1113). The six licenses cover 18 blocks with Chrysaor Norge holding an average working interest in these blocks of 45%.
In 2021, we will drill the first of our operated Norwegian wells on PL973 at the Jerv and Ilder prospects.
Block 7 (25% non-operated interest), Sureste Basin
Harbour Energy has a 25 percent interest in Block 7, in the shallow water Sureste Basin in the Gulf of Mexico. Block 7 contains the giant Zama field which extends into the neighbouring block which is 100 percent owned by Pemex. The Block 7 partners and Pemex continue to progress Zama towards a targeted late 2021 final investment decision (FID).
Mexico
We have a 30 percent non-operated interest in Block 30, which is located directly to the south of the Zama field in the Sureste Basin. Two prospects, Wahoo and Pike, are targeted for drilling in 2022.
Blocks 11 and 13 (100% operated interests), Burgos Basin
Harbour Energy has a 100 percent interest in Block 11 and Block 13 in the highly prospective Burgos basin inboard of the prolific deep water Peridido fold belt.
16 April 2021
The immediate anticipated cost of planned activities in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname in the balance of H1 2021 (in particular, the drilling of Saffron 2 and the WNZ appraisal well) is approximately $4 million. The timing of future operations in both Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname remains dependent on the speed of permitting approvals, and Covid-19 access constraints. The Company will update the market with regards to the detailed work programme and timing of operations in due course.
Close-out of remaining costs associated with the drilling of Perseverance #1 (a number of which will not be finalised and become payable for 30-60 days post-well completion) is also ongoing.
In addition to securing further draw-downs under the conditional convertible note facility, the Company has access to a range of other potential funding sources, including utilising cash flow generated from production in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname, reserve-based lending facilities in respect of the Company's petroleum reserves in Trinidad and Tobago (which are expected to grow during 2021), and generating prospective payments and back cost reimbursements through a farm-in to the licences in The Bahamas.
· In relation to the package of funding arrangements put in place between the Company and 1798 Volantis Fund Ltd ("the Investor") on 13 December 2020 ("the Funding Agreements"), the Company confirms that:
o a full and final reconciliation payment of approximately £370,000 in respect of the initial £7.5 million tranche has been made by BPC to the Investor, representing approximately 5 per cent. of the funds received by the Company under this initial tranche. This payment has been entirely offset by an agreed rebate of advisory and fundraising fees paid by the Company, such that the net cash cost to the Company in respect of the full and final reconciliation for this tranche of funding has been nil;
o the £3.75 million Call Option under the Funding Agreement has now fully lapsed; and
o the £3.75 million Put Option under the Funding Agreement, which was exercised by the Company on 12 January 2021, remains subject to a similar final reconciliation process on 16 April 2021, with the reconciliation amount (if any) able to be satisfied in cash or shares (or any combination thereof) at both parties' discretion, after which any obligations under the Put Option will be fully satisfied and the Funding Agreements will terminate.
· Lastly, the Company has settled a number of corporate creditors through the issuance of, in aggregate, 135 million new BPC shares ("New BPC Shares"). Application has been made for the New BPC Shares to be admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and it is expected that admission will take place, and trading in New BPC Shares will commence, at 8:00am on 22 February 2021 ("Admission").
The Company currently has approximately $15 million of available cash (inclusive of the funds to be made available on 28 February 2021 under the Facility).
o BPC retains the right, at is sole election, to scale back the remaining availability of the Notes by up to £7.5 million and BPC will now also have the additional ability at any time during the term of the Notes, at its sole discretion, to issue a notice to redeem the Notes early, by way of cash payment of the subscription price, all accrued coupon to the time of redemption, an early redemption premium of 5 per cent, and the issue of options to acquire the equivalent of 30% of the number of shares the redeemed Notes would otherwise have converted into, with such options to have an exercise price of 0.8p per share and an expiry date of 31 December 2023. If the Company does elect to redeem the Notes in this way, the provider will first have a 10-day period in which it may elect to convert the Notes the subject of an early redemption notice; and
o the fee payable to the provider on subscriptions for Notes is 6 per cent.
All other terms and conditions of the Facility remain unchanged, as previously advised.