26th Oct 2015 09:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - CEB Resources PLC Monday said it has made offers for two of four potential assets that the company is currently looking to acquire in Indonesia.
The news comes after CEB shares were suspended trading from AIM last Friday pending the announcement Monday, when it said it is currently looking at four potential deals whilst seeking out more.
CEB is looking to expand into Indonesia after agreeing to assess potential oil and gas opportunities in the country with oil exploration company PT Akar Golindo, including the prospect of building a power plant or selling gas to foreign markets.
When that deal was signed with PT Akar Golindo, the company said the joint venture company would look at potential commercial opportunities around the Tuba Obi East oil and gas concession in the South Sumatran Basin, specifically the Tuba Obi East Technical Assistance contract, along with surrounding undeveloped gas discoveries to provide a detailed assessment of potential opportunities in the region.
On Monday, the company said it has made offers for two of the four assets it is currently looking at.
The first offer is for a licence which already has 80 wells already drilled on it. The "main attraction" of the asset is that the existing operator discovered a new reservoir after drilling only three of those wells which is producing around 400.0 barrels of oil per day, per well. It also has several other drilling targets that could be further explored.
The second offer is for a producing oilfield that also has three additional gas wells.
The company did not release any further details regarding those two assets it has filed offers for.
The company said it "expects to put an offer... in the near future" to take part in a joint venture with a "large Indonesian state oil and natural gas company". The details of the fourth asset under consideration were not released.
Originally, CEB said it was targeting assets that have the potential to produce at least 1,000 barrels a day or more, in which it hoped to acquire a stake between 30% to 40%. However, on Monday it said it would still consider other potential assets if the management team consider them to be a "good fit with the investing strategy with sufficient potential revenue and profits."
Earlier in October, CEB appointed Muhamad Slamet to head up its Indonesian operations and expansion and said Monday it was "in discussions" with other potential recruits to its board.
Back in July, CEB raised GBP1.5 million in a share placing and signed a deal with Corsair Petroleum (Singapore) Pte Ltd to undertake due diligence on an initial two oil and gas concessions in Indonesia, with a view to making an investment.
That deal led to the appointment of CEB's current Chief Executive David Whitby, who is a partner of Corsair. However, on Monday the company said it wanted to clarify that it "is not intending to acquire Corsair Petroleum (Singapore) Pte Ltd."
CEB shares remain suspended whilst it tries to secure an asset. The company still has plenty of time to find a new project with its shares not set to be cancelled from AIM until late April if it can not find an investment. However, as of Monday the company only had a cash balance of USD1.0 million.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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