30 Oct 2012 07:00
30 October 2012
PRESIDENT ENERGY PLC
("President" or "the Company")
Completion of Farm-In Agreements
Further to the announcement released on 12 September 2012, President is pleased to announce the completion of the Farm-In Agreements to both the Pirity and Demattei concessions in Paraguay, following all conditions associated with the agreements having been satisfied. These conditions included, inter alia, various Presidential Decrees and approval by the Paraguayan authorities of the qualification of the Company as assignee to the concessions.
The Farm-In Agreements provide for the Company to earn up to a 59 per cent. interest in the Pirity Block from Pirity Hidrocarburos (a subsidiary of PetroVictory) and up to a 60 per cent. interest in the Demattei Block from Crescent Global Oil Paraguay S.A. (a subsidiary of Crescent Oil LLC), both of which are located in the Chaco region of Paraguay.
Following the completion of the farm-in agreements, Pirity Hidrocarburos will complete its subscription for 18,750,000 new ordinary shares of the Company ("New Shares") for a total of £3.75 million (approximately US$6million). As a result, in addition to the Company's recent placing and open offer, the Company will have raised in total approximately US$44.8 million. As previously announced, the New Shares are subject to a lock-in arrangement preventing Pirity Hidrocarburos from disposing of any interest in those shares for a period of 6 months following their admission ("Lock-in Period"). The Company has subsequently agreed with Pirity Hidrocarburos that it may transfer any such interest in the New Shares to another member of its group within the Lock-in Period.
Application has been made for the admission of the New Shares to trading on AIM which is expected to commence at 8.00 a.m. on 5 November 2012.
Upon admission the Company's total issued share capital will be 268,699,887.
Peter Levine, Chairman of President, commented:
"My recent visit to meet President Franco has underscored the importance of our concessions to the future of Paraguay. We have been warmly welcomed in Paraguay, where together with our partners we are honoured to be commencing work on this significant project. We are delighted to have had all of the conditions met and we can now proceed with executing our seismic programme. By our estimates the combined blocks in Paraguay have a gross risked recoverable resource potential of greater than 150 million barrels, with a net success case NPV10 estimated at over US$25 per barrel, thus giving over net US$2 billion of value on that estimated success basis, if President earns its full working interests."
Photographs of a recent Company delegation to meet Paraguayan President Franco, and photos of the Pirity Concession, are available on the Company website www.presidentpc.com.
Dr. Richard Hubbard, BSc Geology University of Leicester, PhD Geology Stanford University, President Chief Operating Officer, meets the criteria of qualified persons under the AIM guidance note for mining and oil and gas companies, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement.
For further information contact:
President Energy PLC
John Hamilton, Director +44 (0) 207 811 0140
Ben Wilkinson, Finance Director +44 (0) 207 811 0140
RBC Capital Markets
Jeremy Low, Matthew Coakes, Daniel Conti +44 (0) 207 653 4000
Jefferies Hoare Govett
Simon Hardy, Max Jones +44 (0) 207 029 8316
Pelham Bell Pottinger +44 (0) 207 861 3232
James Henderson, Mark Antelme