RE: RNS: interim results30 Sep 2020 10:02
maladoni
yes, definitely. There is more they know about and are not saying regarding the schlum deal... they indicate it here...
Block continues to work with Schlumberger on completion of the acquisition of SRCL, which was announced on 26 March 2020. Some conditions necessary for completion have been fulfilled, such as the receipt of approval from the State Agency of Oil and Gas, but, owing to COVID-19 travel restrictions, an agreed shadowing period has not yet been possible. We look forward to updating the market in due course. In the meantime, sub-surface technical study work on the SRCL assets continues, yielding economically attractive short and medium-term opportunities that will be presented to the market following the completion of the acquisition.
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as you can see, they are planning to shadow the guys on site, which will ensure they have a good handover - it also indicates that schlum are keen to see it in good working order after handover - they obviously value the asset despite it not being a core asset for schlum at a higher level.
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when we talk of funding - there is of course the possibility that schlum will loan block cash against the reserves in the field.
schlum do have a lot of debt that exceeds cash and receivables, however, they hold over $2billion in cash and have $8billion in receivables due.
there is plenty to think about here - should block get the schlum acreage up and running successfully, schlum may come back and buy up block energy to obtain the asset back, further down the road, as georgia is a very strategic country from a gas transit view and also they are aiming to change from importer to exporter of gas - schlum will want to be involved and having a stake in block keeps them in country, just off their own balance sheet at this time.