COPL Provides Business and
Financial Performance Update
London, United Kingdom; Calgary, Canada: 22 February,
2024 -Canadian Overseas Petroleum
Limited ("COPL" or the
"Company") (XOP: CSE) & (COPL: LSE), an international oil and
gas exploration, production and development company with production
and development operations focused in Converse and Natrona
Counties, Wyoming, USA, provides a business and financial
performance update.
On December 29, 2023, the Company
announced (i) that it had entered into a Forbearance Agreement with
its Senior Credit Facility Lender, pursuant to which the Senior
Credit Facility Lender agreed not to enforce certain rights and
remedies that it might otherwise have until February 29, 2024 as a
result of the default(s) under the Senior Credit Facility (ii) an
equity placing, and (iii) the appointment of a Chief Restructuring
Officer, all of which were intended to give the Company time to
consider strategic financing or sale alternatives.
On January 10, 2024, the Company
announced, in response to shareholder queries, that, among other
things, the Company had concluded that the value of COPL's assets
were unlikely to be sufficient to cover the claims of the secured
and unsecured creditors which then stood in excess of US$130
million and that the Company was in a precarious financial
situation relating to its liquidity position.
On January 16th the
Company closed a US$2.5m equity placing that was designed to give
the Company an opportunity to remain listed whilst it obtained an
independent technical review of the assets, including possible near
term and medium term cash flows from various different development
strategies, approach investment banks with a view to obtaining
indications as to the value of COPL's assets and seek further
funding. The preliminary results of the third party technical
review have not changed the Company's conclusions about the value
of the Company's assets.
During this period, given its
liquidity constraints, the Company has not been acquiring any
Propane or Butane for injection. The average daily production has
been for 2024 has been approximately 1,000 boe/d. Based off
the most current cash-flow projections, the Company forecasts that
its cash reserves will be fully depleted in the first week of March
2024 and that the Company will require additional funding to be
able to continue operations beyond such date. The Company has
sought, and so far been unable to obtain, such additional
funding.
The Senior Credit Facility Lender
has indicated that it will not extend the forbearance period beyond
February 29, 2024. The Company continues to consider
strategic alternatives in light of the foregoing, including some
form of formal insolvency protection that may or may not leave
value in the Company's common shares.
.
About the Company:
COPL is an international oil and gas
exploration, development and production company actively pursuing
opportunities in the United States with operations in Converse
County Wyoming.
For further information, please
contact:
Mr.
Tom Richardson, Chairman
Canadian Overseas Petroleum
Limited
Tel: + 1 (403) 262 5441
Charles Goodwin
Yellow Jersey PR Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 77 4778 8221
Email:
copl@yellowjerseypr.com
The
Common Shares are listed under the symbol "XOP" on the CSE and
under the symbol "COPL" on the London Stock Exchange.
Caution regarding forward
looking statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements. The use
of any of the words "initial, "scheduled", "can", "will", "prior
to", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "should", "forecast",
"future", "continue", "may", "expect", and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements contained herein are based on certain
key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including,
but not limited to, the ability to raise the necessary funding for
operations, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration
or development projects or capital expenditures. Although the
Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the
forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance
should not be placed on the forward-looking statements since the
Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct
since forward-looking statements address future events and
conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and
uncertainties most of which are beyond the control of Canadian
Overseas Petroleum Ltd. For example, the uncertainty of reserve
estimates, the initiation of proceedings under the Companies'
Creditors Arrangement Act or similar legislation, the uncertainty
of estimates and projections relating to production, cost overruns,
health and safety issues, political and environmental risks,
commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, changes in
legislation affecting the oil and gas industry could cause actual
results to vary materially from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements
contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and
Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited undertakes no obligation to
update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or
information, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities
laws.
This announcement has been issued by and is the sole
responsibility of the Company. No representation or warranty,
express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to,
and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the
Company (apart from the responsibilities or liabilities that may be
imposed by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, or the
regulatory regime established thereunder) or by any of its
affiliates or agents as to, or in relation to, the accuracy or
completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral
information made available to or publicly available to any
interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is
expressly disclaimed.