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Further Funding Update and TAC Appointments

16th Oct 2014 07:00

RNS Number : 4398U
Sirius Petroleum PLC
16 October 2014
 



16 October 2014

Sirius Petroleum Plc

("Sirius" or the "Company")

 

Further Funding Update

Formation of Technical Advisory Committee

Sirius Petroleum (AIM:SRSP), the Company focused on oil and gas development and production opportunities in Nigeria, announced previously that it has provisionally raised approximately $20,000,000 by way of a placing and subscription and the board is currently seeking to raise a further $5,100,000 (the "Further Funding") in order to put the Ororo Field into production. A long stop date of 7 November 2014 is set for the placing and subscription and the Further Funding may or may not be concluded by that date. In addition to these ongoing discussions, the Company is exploring an alternative re-entry scenario into the Ororo Field, which may reduce the overall Capex and impact the Further Funding required.

 

To strengthen Sirius's technical capabilities and, as part of the concluding of the funding, the Company is forming a Technical Advisory Committee ("TAC") to assist in advising on the technical aspects of its operations. The TAC will comprise a team of experts from the Oil & Gas industry to actively advise the Company on the optimum development of its assets. Whilst the initial focus is on the drilling of the Ororo Field, the TAC will also advise Sirius on the technical aspects of the acquisition and development of further assets in Nigeria. The responsibilities of the TAC include monitoring geological and geophysical interpretation, acquisition and development planning, economic modelling studies and engineering activities.

 

As an initial step, Sirius has agreed Heads of Terms with Havoc Partners ("Havoc") to become a technical adviser to the Company and under which Havoc will appoint Jon Taylor and Alan Stein to join the TAC. The Company will immediately look to conclude a definitive agreement. In the meantime mutual due diligence has been carried out and the parties are working together on the technical development of the Ororo Field. A further announcement will be made once this is concluded.

 

Jon Taylor and Alan Stein have significant experience in the Oil & Gas industry and were the founders and Executive Directors of Ophir Energy plc, which grew rapidly from a start-up in 2004 to being the fifth largest deep water acreage holder in Africa by 2007. It established itself as a deep water Operator in 2008, making two gas discoveries offshore Equatorial Guinea, and in 2010 Ophir operated the first ever deep water drilling campaign offshore Tanzania making the first offshore discoveries in that country. Ophir's admission to the Official List of the London Stock Exchange in 2011 was the biggest ever E&P IPO in London.

 

Havoc is staffed by geoscientists and is equipped with the latest geological and geophysical software to enable the team to undertake technical and commercial evaluations and to develop and evaluate projects in-house. Post completion of funding, the Havoc mandate will be to assist in the drilling and subsequent production of the Ororo Field.

Commenting, Jon Taylor, said: "We are delighted to work with Sirius on their opportunities in Nigeria. The Company is focused on selected marginal field developments and has access to strong potential deal flow. We look forward to collaborating with Sirius's technical team in Lagos initially to put the Ororo Field into production and then on subsequent projects."

 

Commenting, Bobo Kuti, CEO of Sirius Petroleum, said: "I am delighted that Jon Taylor, Alan Stein and Havoc Partners have agreed to advise Sirius on its technical operations, taking an active role working in collaboration with Schlumberger and our Nigerian technical team. The breadth of experience this team brings will help Sirius to mitigate the technical risks associated with drilling the Ororo Field, whilst advising us on our best strategy with regards to our pipeline of assets."

 

 

Enquiries:

Sirius Petroleum plc

Bobo Kuti / Jamie Bligh

+44 (0) 20 3740 7460

www.siriuspetroleum.com

Cairn Financial Advisers LLP

Tony Rawlinson / Paul Trendell

+44 (0) 20 7148 7900

 

Cantor Fitzgerald Europe

David Porter / Sarah Wharry

+44 (0) 207 894 7000

 

Gable Communications Limited

John Bick

+44 (0) 20 7193 7463

Email: [email protected]

 

About Havoc Partners

Havoc is a natural resources investment company focused primarily on the oil and gas sector. The five founding partners of the business are geoscientists who have worked together for more than 13 years and collectively have more than 90 years of international upstream experience. Havoc was established to provide a platform to deploy the expertise and relationships of the partners in making direct and indirect investments in the natural resources sector with an emphasis on oil and gas.

The Havoc team were the founders of Fusion Oil & Gas plc (Fusion), which listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2000. Fusion had an extensive portfolio of interests in West Africa and was involved in several ground breaking discoveries offshore Mauritania. Following the sale of Fusion in 2003 the team moved together to establish Ophir Energy plc, whose admission to the Official List of the London Stock Exchange in 2011 was the biggest ever E&P IPO in London and the most successful IPO for the year. Since listing in 2011 Ophir has gone on to make further gas discoveries in Equatorial Guinea and notably in Tanzania.

Havoc has a wealth of expertise and contacts that it can draw upon to provide technical and commercial support on an as required basis. The Company is equipped with the latest geological and geophysical software to enable the team to undertake technical and commercial evaluations and to develop and evaluate projects in-house. The partners deploy a disciplined approach to project selection which combines technical and commercial rigour with an ability, when required, to transact at speed which can create an advantage in securing attractive projects in a competitive environment.

Havoc's ability to source opportunities comes from the experience and network of the five founding partners who have a track record of successfully building early stage natural resource companies. The partners have established a network of relationships across oil and gas companies, service providers, investment banks, governments and commerce.

Havoc Partners: www.havocpartners.com

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
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