Member Info for schlemiel

https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/7447496/hunt-for-emissions-offsets-to-progress-territorys-shale-gas-promise/?cs=5150

Waldron is attacking the previous board for their appalling management and yet Maris and Chaffe are still on the board, they remain silent. Intriguing to say the least

Crystal Amber chairman hits out at ‘egregious’ Hurricane Energy proposals
The chairman of activist fund Crystal Amber has claimed its “decisive action” saved $22million which would have been lost from Hurricane Energy.

The chairman of activist fund Crystal Amber has claimed its “decisive action” saved $22million which would have been lost from Hurricane Energy.

In a statement during Crystal Amber’s (LON:CRS) six month results, Christopher Waldron hit out at what he described as “egregious proposals” put forward by the west of Shetland operator for restructuring earlier this year.

Beleaguered firm Hurricane Energy (LON: HUR) put forward restructuring proposals which were rejected at the end of June which would have almost completely wiped out shareholders.

Crystal Amber has invested millions of pounds in Hurricane since 2013 and was a vocal critic of the company’s previous board.

The plans also anticipated the end of production from Hurricane’s flagship Lancaster field in 2024, followed by a winding down of the firm.

Crystal Amber also requisitioned an extraordinary general meeting with a view to ousting Hurricane’s five non-executive directors.

They jumped ship ahead of the vote, however, and two Crystal Amber nominees, John Wright and David Craik, were appointed.

Mr Waldron said: “During the year, the Manager has been working hard to maximise value from the Fund’s concentrated portfolio.

“As an activist investor, this work takes many forms and generally the Fund’s preference is to engage constructively in private with investee companies.

“However, this is not always possible and was certainly not the case recently with Hurricane Energy, where it was necessary to take legal action to protect the position of shareholders in the face of egregious proposals by Hurricane’s board. If not opposed, these would have seen a 95% dilution of shareholders.

“It’s pleasing to report that the Fund’s swift action saw this proposal blocked in the High Court and the Fund is supportive of Hurricane’s reconstituted board as it seeks to create value for all stakeholders.”

Hurricane Energy has been contacted for comment.

Crystal Amber said that $22m of capital and interest had been saved “as a direct result of the Fund’s intervention”.

Earlier this year Crystal Amber increased its holding in Hurricane beyond 25%.

Hurricane’s troubles stem from a huge downgrade to its west of Shetland oil resources last year and underperformance at its flagship Lancaster field, which started up in May 2019.

The company — led by CEO Antony Maris, appointed last year to replace long-standing boss Robert Trice — had been considering drilling new wells to boost Lancaster’s performance.

But the company has been hamstrung by the need to repay a £163 million ($230m) convertible bond in July 2022.

Earlier this month, Hurricane said that figure has dropped to $152million, adding that its net free cash flow stands at $144m.

https://www.en

Lowflier

Honest answer? I have no idea fella. I'm no expert on oil-gas stocks. NO expert on anything to be frank except maybe seeing value and opportunity and even then faltering at times..

My advice. Let the story unfold here, see what value changing news materialises, there's obviously many developments to come that remain shrouded in mystery (CPR scam, new well on Lancaster for example, maybe asset sales from HUR's portfolio,Lincoln news, FPSO extension on favourable terms, updates on the scam, bond agreements...they all have the ability to add value to HUR's market value...

My advice, sell a small % at 7p then a slightly higher % at 10p, then another higher % at 13p etc etc

The volume today is immense and that screams behind the scenes devlopments..someone's either short covering or buying more stock because they see material value

I had a million GGP shares at 2.47p. They went to 38p. I sokd far too soon. That cost me +£200k. My timing is crap....

Selling 500,000 HURRICANE ENERGY PLC ORD GBP0.001 shares
The price quoted cannot be guaranteed until the order is confirmed.
0
Price
£0.04877
Order Details
Settlement Date
T+2 - 30/09/21

I82

Mate, if HUR get a deal on the bonds and the FPSO and other developments then all bets are off

dyor, no advice intended

5p bid

surely news in the system? A deal on the bonds and the FPSO?

Yes, a nice profit would be great but for me I hope those who have lost a lot of money get a fair chunk of it back. That alone would feel like justice has been done.

5p gone

news surely?

'poise' 'produced'

What about the reservoir engineers, ECR Equipouise? They produce the CPR. What's their role in all of this? Monetary dimension?

' Outlook

The Fund's mature and highly concentrated portfolio of special situations is well placed to deliver not only value accretion but importantly the release of value. As the Fund's investee companies continue to make progress, we have been able to enter discussions with strategic and corporate buyers of the majority of our portfolio companies. In the coming weeks and months, we look forward to providing specific details. '

'the majority of our portfolio companies'?

What's CA's game here?

'The Fund has written to the Hurricane Board under Article 94 of the company's articles of association to request that a committee (comprising the non-executive directors) be established with a mandate to investigate what happened and to engage external advisers (should that be needed) for the investigation. The committee would then make a recommendation to the Hurricane Board. '

So that's a two man cttee comprised of Wright and Craik and excluding Maris and Chaffe. What does that tell you...Balls have been tightly gripped and Bernstein's squeezing

'external advisers'? Wtf are those? Almost suggests the current auditors are not upto the task or some other type of external intervention

https://thewest.com.au/business/public-companies/empire-hikes-nt-oil-and-gas-resources-following-strategic-acquisition-c-4087707

news needed on remainiung bonds will unlock real material gains, assuming it's +

What an update for Hurricane.

I am intrigued by CA's assertion that HUR need a '12 month extension' for the FPSO. Why 12 months? Odd.

'The Fund has written to the Hurricane Board under Article 94 of the company's articles of association to request that a committee (comprising the non-executive directors) be established with a mandate to investigate what happened and to engage external advisers (should that be needed) for the investigation. The committee would then make a recommendation to the Hurricane Board. '

This sounds ominous for those that have now left the company. I reckon CA believes malpractice was at work

Whilst the Fund would have preferred not to have had to endure the past 18 months as a shareholder in Hurricane, the share price weakness enabled the Fund to take advantage by more than doubling its shareholding from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021 to 22.6% and it successfully defended the interests of all shareholders on a crucial point of law. The Fund currently owns more than 25% of Hurricane and is the largest shareholder.



In August 2021, after a further request from Crystal Amber, Hurricane finally launched a tender offer for up to 50% of the outstanding bonds. Allocating up to $80 million of its cash, initially the tender was priced at up to 72 cents, but this was increased to 78 cents. Whilst the Fund fails to understand the amount of time taken by the board to implement the buyback of the bonds (in early July 2021, the bonds were trading at just 49.25 cents), purchasing just over one third of the bonds in issue has reduced Hurricane's capital and interest obligations by approximately $22 million. This represents an important and material saving. Without the Fund's successful intervention at the High Court, this would not have happened.



The Fund now believes that Hurricane must secure an extension with Bluewater Energy Services B.V. (from whom Hurricane leases the Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel). This will secure the prospects of significantly increased free cash flow generation for equity holders. The Fund believes that a twelve month extension is required.



Latest production information from Hurricane is that its P6 well is producing 11,100 barrels per day. This compares well with the company's production forecasts (released in May 2021) estimating production for August 2021 at 9,500 barrels per day. Production for June and July were also ahead of forecast. The latest production shipment in August 2021 was for 505,000 barrels and it is estimated that this generated around $34 million of revenue.



At anticipated production levels, the Fund estimates that by February 2024, 8.3 million barrels will be produced. At a selling price of $68 a barrel, $570 million of revenues will be achieved. Based on historic margins, this would deliver operating cash flows of around $250 million. By the time the bonds are due to be repaid, the Fund estimates that 3.3 million barrels can be produced, generating $227 million of revenue and around $110 million of operating cash flow. These revenues and cash flows are taken from the current oil producing asset within Hurricane's portfolio. Set against this context, whilst inevitable production risk remains, the Fund believes the prospects for Hurricane are far better than has been presented by its executives.



The Fund notes and welcomes that since the court hearing, actual production achieved has been running materially ahead of budget and in August, it exceeded budget by more than 20 per cent at 11,467 barrels a day.

end

Hurricane Energy ("Hurricane")



Hurricane is an oil exploration and production company targeting naturally fractured basement reservoirs in the West of Shetland. The Fund's previous annual reports include background information on this investment. The Fund has been an investor in Hurricane since 2013 and has to date realised profits of £43 million.



For the year under review, our intensive engagement with the board of directors culminated in the resignation of all five of the company's non-executive directors. This took place only hours before the AGM shareholder vote. In their stead, John Wright and David Craik, two experienced sector specialists who have been advising the Fund on Hurricane for several years, were appointed. The general meeting that the Fund had requisitioned to make these changes was therefore no longer required.



In June 2021 at the High Court, Mr Justice Zacaroli refused to sanction the Hurricane board's attempt to force through a highly dilutive debt for equity swap. The board had proposed that $50 million of the $230 million repayable to bondholders in July 2022 be converted into 95% of Hurricane's equity, with the remaining $180 million debt earning cash interest of 9.4% per annum plus payment in kind interest of 5% per annum. The coupon on the existing bonds is 7.5%.



Mr Justice Zacaroli referred in his judgment to the continued profitable trading at Hurricane and the prospects of that continuing long into the future. In this regard, Bluewater Energy Services B.V. (from whom Hurricane leases the FPSO - Floating Production Storage and Offloading - vessel) made contact directly with Crystal Amber and stated that it remains very keen to progress discussions and investigate solutions and proposals to extend the charter beyond June 2022. Last month, Hurricane confirmed that it is engaged in positive negotiations on securing an extension.



The threat of massive equity dilution combined with continued downbeat comments from the previous board with regard to the company's future prospects, heavily contributed to what has been a dreadful share price performance. Whilst there is no doubt that the fall in oil price in 2020 was entirely beyond management's control, the decision not to use some of its cash to buyback the bonds when they were trading at a discount of 70%, as urged to do so at the time by Crystal Amber, has proven extremely costly in addition to legal costs of $17 million on a restructuring plan that both Crystal Amber and more importantly the High Court found to be inappropriate.



The Fund has written to the Hurricane Board under Article 94 of the company's articles of association to request that a committee (comprising the non-executive directors) be established with a mandate to investigate what happened and to engage external advisers (should that be needed) for the investigation. The committee would then make a recommendation to the Hurricane Board.


cont......

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/CRS/final-results/15151535