7th Dec 2006 07:01
Afren PLC07 December 2006 Afren plc (AIM: AFR) Gas Monetization Strategy London, 7 December 2006 - Afren plc ("Afren" or "the Company") is pleased toannounce that African Gas Development Corporation ("Afgas") and SociedadNacional de Gas, GE. ("Sonagas") yesterday announced the signature of anexclusive joint venture agreement ("JV") to monetize gas supplies from Nigeria,Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea through infrastructure and facilities inEquatorial Guinea. Afren has the first right of refusal to supply upstream gasto the JV. Exclusive Joint Venture between Sonagas and Afgas Sonagas is the national gas company of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea whichhas the exclusive responsibility for the State's interest in all existing andfuture gas related projects in the country. Sonagas' existing gas projectsinclude a 25% stake in the US$1.4 billion Equatorial Guinea Liquefied NaturalGas ("EGLNG") plant, which will begin deliveries of LNG to international marketsfrom mid-2007. Train 1 has a capacity of 3.8 million tonnes and negotiations arecurrently underway regarding Train 2 and possible Trains 3 and 4. Using Afren as the preferred upstream supplier, the Joint Venture intends toassemble the necessary regional gas supplies, primarily from Nigeria andCameroon, to supplement existing Equatorial Guinea gas sources. Other Sonagasprojects include participation in the Bioko methanol plant which currentlyproduces approximately 3,000 tonnes per day and the Punta Europa LiquefiedPetroleum Gas plant, which currently produces approximately 25,000 barrels perday. The Afgas / Sonagas Joint Venture will be responsible for providing all requiredsubsea pipelines, facilities and related infrastructure for the gas relatedprojects. Afgas has entered into Heads of Agreement with each of Acergy (NASDAQNM:ACGY; Oslo Stock exchange: ACY) (formerly Stolt Offshore) and AMEC (LSE:AMEC), for the design, procurement, building and operation of the infrastructureand facilities required in support of the Joint Venture's various gasmonetization projects. Impact on Afren Afren has the right of first refusal to supply gas to the Afgas / Sonagas JV,thereby securing an additional market for Gulf of Guinea gas reserves. The Gulfof Guinea has over 200 TCF of gas reserves, with more than 80% of those reservessituated in Nigeria. Afren is currently in negotiations on a number of upstreamassets in Nigeria, which could potentially provide gas to the JV. Background Afgas is engaged in the development, construction, operation and ownership ofintegrated gas developments in Africa. Afgas is the largest shareholder in Gasolplc ("Gasol"), which is a London (AIM:GAS) listed downstream gas developmentcompany focusing on opportunities in Africa and the Gulf of Guinea inparticular. Gasol purchased 20% of Afgas's subsidiary, African LNG Holdings("African LNG"), earlier this year to integrate and build on the group's gas andLNG strategy in West and Central Africa, of which the JV with Sonagas is acritical step. Afgas was founded by Dr Rilwanu Lukman and Mr Ethelbert Cooper, both founders ofAfren. Afren has a 6.5% equity interest in Gasol and has a strategicrelationship governing the supply of gas to Afgas-Gasol. Brian O'Cathain, Chief Executive of Afren, commented "Our strategic relationship with Afgas-Gasol, as the preferred upstream gassupplier, presents an additional growth leg to Afren. Gas exports to EquatorialGuinea represent a new route to monetise stranded and associated gas reserves inthe Gulf of Guinea, and also assist with the reduction of gas flaring in theregion. This relationship allows Afren to capitalise on the anticipated growth in globaland regional LNG demand, without diluting our upstream focused strategy." Enquiries:Afren +44 20 7182 1800Brian O'Cathain [email protected] ---------------Osman Shahenshah [email protected] --------------- Pelham Public Relations +44 020 7743 6673James Henderson [email protected] ------------------------------Alisdair [email protected] --------------------------------------- Background information Afren Afren (www.afren.com) was founded in December 2004 by a management teamincluding Dr Rilwanu Lukman with the vision to become the leading pan Africanindependent Exploration and Production company. Since the Initial PublicOffering in March 2005, Afren has rapidly expanded its African portfolio acrossfive countries; Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Congo and Angola. TheGroup is expecting to produce 15 to 20,000 barrels per day by 2008 from itscurrent portfolio. Afren will continue to add to its diversified portfolio of near termdevelopments and high impact exploration licences with the overall objective ofcreating substantial shareholder value. Acergy Acergy is a company engaged in seabed-to-surface pipeline gathering andtransportation, engineering, procurement, construction and installation servicesfor the offshore oil and gas industry. Acergy has a market capitalization ofapproximately US$3.8 billion and 7000 employees worldwide. Amec AMEC is a project management and engineering services company that designs,delivers and supports infrastructure assets for customers in the oil and gasindustry. AMEC has a market capitalization of US$ 2.3 billion and 20,000employees worldwide. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
AFR.L