TIDMPRD
RNS Number : 9521M
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings PLC
14 May 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 May 2020
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc / Index: LSE / Epic: PRD /
Sector: Oil & Gas
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc
("Predator" or the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries
"the Group")
Redemption of remaining Arato Global Opportunities LLC ("Arato") Loan Notes
and Placing to raise GBP0.448million
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc (PRD), the Jersey-based Oil
and Gas Company with operations in Trinidad, Morocco and Ireland is
pleased to announce that it has conditionally placed 22,438,842 new
ordinary shares of no par value in the Company (the "Placing
Shares") at a placing price of 2 pence each (the "Placing Price")
to raise GBP0.448million (before expenses) (the "Placing").
The Placing was significantly oversubscribed and utilises all of
the Company's existing headroom shares under the Financial Conduct
Authority restrictions for companies on the Official List (standard
listing segment) of the London Stock Exchange's main market for
listed securities .
Novum Securities are acting as placing agents to the
Company.
Settlement in full of outstanding Arato Convertible Loan
Notes
The well-capitalised position of the Company combined with
significant operational progress towards generating revenues from
the CO2 EOR project in Trinidad, has created the opportunity to
settle in full the outstanding Arato Convertible Loan Notes.
Eliminating debt potentially strengthens the near-term growth
prospects of the Company as COVID-19 restrictions are gradually
relaxed.
The Company has given an irrevocable notice to repay the
remaining GBP746,000 of the Loan Notes (the Outstanding Principal)
together with redemption fees (together, the Redemption Monies) on
or before 15 May 2020. Arato have agreed to accept the Redemption
Monies in cash.
Redemption Monies will be funded from the Placing and from
utilising some cash resources from the Company's well-capitalised
balance sheet.
Impact on working capital requirements
The successful and oversubscribed Placing announced on 14
February 2020 allowed some additional discretionary working capital
to be raised surplus to that required to satisfy all of the
Company's current work programme commitments. Cost reductions have
been achieved during COVID-19 for the Company's operations without
compromising the ability to deliver revenues from Trinidad or the
execution of the Moroccan drilling programme. The additional
release of the Arato security over the first US$1 million of the
Guercif Bank Guarantee, returned after the completion of the
Guercif commitment well, further strengthens the Company's balance
sheet. Going forward that restricted cash can potentially be
leveraged to secure improved commercial terms with some drilling
service companies and equipment providers, with some potential for
risk-sharing and deferred payments given the weakened position of
the services market. This makes for more effective use of such
cash.
The Company remains, after repayment of the outstanding Arato
Convertible Loan Notes, fully funded to progress CO2 EOR in
Trinidad to the point when profits are generated and to execute the
high impact Guercif drilling programme in Morocco targeting the gas
market in Morocco.
Operations summary
Operational, HSE and regulatory progress in Trinidad has been
successfully maintained and managed during the COVID-19 imposition
of social distancing restrictions. As a result, the Company is
confident that profits from enhanced CO2 EOR oil production, even
at a sustained WTI oil price of US$20 per barrel, will make a
positive impact on the Company's cash balances. Such profits are
additional to the working capital raised for the Company to fulfil
its current work programmes.
The Company remains "drill ready" in Morocco, with environmental
approvals granted and in- country rig availability maintained at no
cost to the Company. Well equipment also remains available in
Morocco. The drilling programme can be advanced as soon as COVID-19
restrictions are relaxed and the HSE conditions under which
operations can be carried out are agreed and put into practice.
The Company is working on a faster-track solution to monetise an
initial gas discovery at Guercif in the event of drilling success.
GRF-1 was drilled in 1972 less than two kilometres from the
proposed well to be drilled by the Company. Well logs over an
interval interpreted as gas-bearing by a previous operator in 2006
are now being re-evaluated by Houston-based NuTech, a company
specialising in applying new technology to old well logs. The first
well location has been optimised to ensure that this significant
potential gas target can be added to the existing gas targets. This
will potentially maximise well deliverability in a success case to
support the option being developed for initial monetisation of gas.
Morocco remains a very attractive market for gas and the impact of
COVID-19 only reinforces the importance of focussing on local gas
markets where less carbon intensive gas is competing against more
carbon intensive, higher priced, imported fuel oil.
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc CEO Paul Griffiths
commented:-
"I am very pleased to announce that through this Placing and the
well-capitalised position of the Company we have removed the debt
created by the Convertible Loan Notes. We have achieved this by
reaching a secure position whereby cash can be prudently used to
achieve this purpose without compromising delivering our work
programme commitments.
Focus can now be exclusively on utilising our lean team to
deliver near-term operational results and to further develop growth
potential, by using our debt-free balance sheet, restricted cash
asset, and accumulated specialist expertise in Trinidad and Morocco
as leverage to secure attractive commercial deals."
Completion of the Placing
Completion of the Placing is conditional on, inter alia:-
the Placing Shares being admitted to listing on the Official
List (standard listing segment) and to trading on the London Stock
Exchange's main market for listed securities ("Admission") on or
before 29 May 2020 (or such later date as may be agreed by the
Company and Novum Securities).
Agreement with Arato Global Opportunities LLC
-- An Orderly Market Agreement remains in place
-- Arato releases security over the USD 1 million cash in the
form of the returnable Bank Guarantee from ONHYM following
completion of the Moulouya well.
Admission, Settlement and Dealings in Placing Shares
Applications will be made to the FCA and to the London Stock
Exchange for Admission in respect of all the Placing Shares
proposed to be issued on completion of the Placing. It is expected
that Admission will become effective, and that dealings in the
Placing Shares are expected to commence, at 8.00 a.m. on 29 May
2020.
The rights attaching to the Placing Shares will be uniform in
all respects and all of the Placing Shares will rank pari passu,
and form a single class for all purposes with, the existing issued
shares of no par value in the Company.
Following Admission of the Placing Shares, the enlarged Share
Capital will be 239,678,517 ordinary shares of no par value.
Enquiries:
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Tel: +44 (0)1534 834600
plc
Paul Griffiths Chief Executive
Officer
Carl Kindinger Non-Executive
Chairman
Novum Securities Limited Jon Tel: + 44(0) 207 399 9425
Belliss
Optiva Securities Limited Tel: +44(0) 203 137 1902
Christian Dennis
Follow us also on VOX Market
https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes
of Article 7
of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014
on market abuse
Qualified Person's statement:
The information contained in this document has been reviewed and
approved by Mr. Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer. Mr
Griffiths has a BSc in Geology from Imperial College London and is
an Associate of the Royal School of Mines. Mr. Griffiths has over
43 years of relevant experience in the upstream oil industry.
Notes to Editors:
Predator is operator of the Guercif Petroleum Agreement onshore
Morocco which is prospective for Tertiary gas in a prospect 4
kilometres from the Maghreb gas pipeline, and deeper Triassic gas.
A well location has been selected for drilling and a rig option
agreement has been entered into.
Predator is an oil and gas exploration company with the
objective of participating with FRAM Exploration Trinidad Ltd. in
further developing the remaining oil reserves in the producing
Inniss Trinity oil field onshore Trinidad, primarily through the
application of C02 EOR technology. Potential for cash flow exists
by executing the Pilot Enhanced Oil Recovery project using locally
sourced carbon dioxide for injection into the oil reservoirs ("C02
EOR"). Near-term expansion and growth potential is focussed on
upscaling the C02 EOR operations in the Inniss-Trinity oil
field.
In addition, Predator also operates exploration and appraisal
assets in licensing options offshore Ireland, for which Successor
Authorisations have been applied for, adjoining Shell's Corrib gas
field in the Slyne Basin on the Atlantic Margin and east of the
Kinsale gas field in the Celtic Sea. Ireland however remains a very
challenging regulatory environment for business investment in the
oil and gas sector and is not the immediate focus of the Company's
near-term operations.
The Company has a highly experienced management team with a
proven track record in the oil and gas industry.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
FURGPUGCAUPUGPC
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May 14, 2020 08:46 ET (12:46 GMT)
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