M&A Activity • Apr 18, 2023
M&A Activity
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Oslo, 18 April 2023 – Panoro Energy ASA ("Panoro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Beender Tunisia Petroleum Limited ("Beender") to acquire its 40 percent shareholding in Sfax Petroleum Corporation AS ("SPC") for a total consideration of approximately USD 18.2 million in a mix of cash and shares (the "Acquisition").
SPC through its subsidiaries, indirectly owns a 49 percent interest in the producing TPS Assets which comprise five oil field concessions in the region of the city of Sfax, onshore and offshore shallow water Tunisia, and an 87.5 percent interest in the Sfax Offshore Exploration Permit ("SOEP") offshore Tunisia.
Prior to the Acquisition, Panoro's effective ownership of SPC stood at 60 percent (29.4 percent interest in the TPS Assets and 52.5 percent interest in SOEP). Post the Acquisition Panoro's ownership of SPC will increase to 100 percent (49 percent interest in the TPS Assets and 87.5 percent interest in SOEP) and SPC will be a fully owned subsidiary of Panoro.
"This is a compelling and accretive transaction for Panoro that is aligned with our growth strategy. The Acquisition materially increases our interest in the producing TPS Assets, where we have built a deep understanding through our role as joint operator alongside the Tunisian national oil company ETAP since 2018, and the prospective Sfax Offshore Exploration Permit. The TPS Assets are long-life, low-cost oil fields with a stable production history and significant volumes of oil yet to be recovered while the Sfax Offshore Exploration Permit holds three oil discoveries and numerous identified prospects and leads in the vicinity of existing infrastructure. Beender have been a highly valued minority partner for several years and we now welcome them as Panoro shareholders."
"We are very pleased to complete this complementary acquisition of almost 3 million barrels of oil of 2P reserves and net daily production of 800-900 bopd. We welcome the opportunity to expand our position in Tunisia and to increase our net exposure to our TPS existing producing assets with minimal additional G&A costs. The attractive purchase price means this value driven acquisition shall be immediately accretive and is consistent with Panoro's strategic vision whilst remaining fully committed to maintain our current shareholder returns policy."
The TPS Assets comprise five oil field concessions in the region of the city of Sfax, onshore and shallow water offshore Tunisia. The concessions are Cercina, Cercina Sud, Rhemoura, El Ain/Gremda and El Hajeb/Guebiba.
The oil fields were discovered in the 1980's and early 1990's and have produced over 60 million barrels of oil to date. Current production is stable at rates in excess of 4,000 barrels of oil per day.Approximately 50 wells have been drilled in the TPS fields to date, whilst some of these wells have been abandoned, 12 remain on production with seven wells currently shut-in awaiting workovers or reactivation. Three wells are used for disposal of produced water. Production facilities consist of the various wellhead installations, connected via intra-field pipelines to processing, storage and transportation systems. Crude is transported to a storage and export terminal about 70 km south of the Assets at La Skhira.
SPC indirectly owns a 49 percent interest in the fields and a 50 percent interest in the TPS operating company. In 2022 gross production at the TPS Assets averaged 4,232 bopd. Panoro sees opportunities to restore production to historic levels of 6,000 bopd gross.
The SOEP, containing the Ras El Besh Concession, lies in the prolific oil and gas Cretaceous and Eocene carbonate platforms of the Pelagian Basin offshore Tunisia. In the vicinity of the Permit area are numerous existing producing fields with infrastructure and spare capacity in pipelines and facilities.
The Permit is operated by Panoro Tunisia Exploration AS. There are three oil discoveries on the permit, Salloum, Ras El Besh, and Jawahra, with gross recoverable oil estimated to be approximately 20 million barrels.
In addition to these discoveries there is considerable exploration potential in the Permit, with gross unrisked prospective resources estimated at to be around 250 million barrels.
Qazi Qadeer, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +44 203 405 1060 Email: [email protected]
Panoro Energy ASA is an independent exploration and production company based in London and listed on the main board of the Oslo Stock Exchange with the ticker PEN. Panoro holds production, exploration and development assets in Africa, namely interests in Block-G, Block S (pending approval) and Block EG-01 (pending ratification), offshore Equatorial Guinea, the Dussafu License offshore southern Gabon, the TPS operated assets, Sfax Offshore Exploration Permit and Ras El Besh Concession, offshore Tunisia, and interests in an exploration Block 2B, and Technical Co-operation Permit 218 in South Africa.
Visit us at www.panoroenergy.com.
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