24th Aug 2006 07:00
OILEX NL24 August 2006Alternative Investment MarketLondon UKDear Sir/Madam,RE: OILEX SELLS QUEENSLAND ASSETS TO BOW ENERGY ltdOilex NL ("Oilex") is pleased to advise that it has signed Share Sale &Purchase Agreements for the sale to Bow Energy Ltd ("Bow") of its onshoreQueensland oil and gas permit interests in the Bowen-Surat and Cooper-EromangaBasins.As consideration for the sale of the assets, Oilex will be issued with 15million fully paid ordinary shares and 15 million options to purchase Bowshares at 50 cents per share on or before 5 years from the issue date. When thetransaction is completed, Oilex will be the largest shareholder in Bow. Thesale is subject to shareholder approval and completion of the due diligenceprocess. The effective date of sale is 24 August 2006 with settlement to beeffected by 31 October 2006. The shares will be subject to voluntary escrow fora period of 2 years from the date of issue.Bow has an excellent exploration, engineering and management team as well as aQueensland oil exploration and production focus. Bow also has an expanding andcomprehensive Queensland geological database. By concluding this agreement withBow, Oilex shareholders will benefit from Bow's expertise and share in anyprice appreciation of Bow's shares in the event of successful drilling by Bowon the permit areas that are being sold by Oilex and on Bow's existingexploration permits. Bow has advised that it plans to participate in severalhigh oil potential wells on their permits during the next 12 months.The divestment of the Queensland permit interests is consistent with thestrategy outlined previously by Oilex; that is to acquire material explorationand production assets in Australia and to develop a strong position in oil andgas exploration and production in the prospective hydrocarbon basins of Indiaand the countries of the Indian Ocean rim. In particular, this arrangement withBow enables Oilex to concentrate its resources on the development opportunitiesat Cambay, Bhandut and Sabarmati fields in Gujarat, India and the explorationprogrammes in the Otway Basin, Block 56 in Oman, Permit W05-11 offshore WesternAustralia and Block 103 in the Joint Petroleum Development Area betweenTimor-Leste and Australia.A related Media Release is attached hereto.For and on behalf of the BoardB. H. McCarthyManaging Directorcc: Directors MEDIA RELEASE 24 AUGUST 2006 OILEX REACHES AGREEMENT TO SELL QUEENSLAND OIL & GAS ASSETS TO BOW ENERGY FINAL STEP IN REPOSITIONING AS SUBSTANTIAL INTERNATIONAL OIL & GAS COMPANY Australian-based Oilex NL (ASX: OEX, AIM: OEX) has reached agreement to divestits onshore Queensland oil and gas assets to ASX-listed Bow Energy Ltd ("Bow"),marking the final step in its repositioning as an international oil and gascompany focused on exploration and production development opportunities aroundthe Indian Ocean rim. The first phase of drilling on the Company's portfolio ofonshore assets in Gujarat, north-western India is planned to start later thismonth.Oilex further strengthened its exploration portfolio in the last week aftersecuring offshore blocks with promising potential in the Timor Sea and WesternAustralia in joint venture with Indian partners.The Perth-based Company said today (Thursday) it had reached agreement to sellits onshore permit interests in Queensland's Bowen-Surat and Cooper-EromangaBasins to Bow Energy for 15 million fully paid ordinary shares and 15 million5-year options to purchase Bow shares at 50 cents each. As a result of thetransaction, Oilex will become the largest shareholder in Bow.Oilex's Managing Director, Dr Bruce McCarthy, said the agreement with Bow wasstructured to ensure that Oilex shareholders would benefit from Bow's expertiseas a Queensland-focused oil and gas company with a strong exploration,engineering and management team. "Oilex shareholders will retain exposure toany exploration in the expanded portfolio of Australian assets held by Bow andshare in any price appreciation of Bow's shares in the event of drillingsuccess in the permit areas," he said."Bow plans to participate in several exploration wells on the permits duringthe next 12 months," Dr McCarthy added. "This agreement enables us toconcentrate our resources on our near-term development opportunities in Indiaand our exploration assets in Australia and Oman, while continuing toparticipate in the upside of drilling programs within these Queenslandexploration permits.""The divestment of these assets is consistent with our strategy of acquiring abalanced portfolio of exploration and production assets in the prospectivehydrocarbon basins of India, Australia and the other countries of the IndianOcean rim," he added. "This marks the final phase in Oilex's restructuring andrepositioning as a substantial international oil and gas company with a stronggrowth focus."Oilex recently enhanced its exploration portfolio after securing, in jointventure with three Indian partners, an offshore block in the Joint PetroleumDevelopment Area between Timor Leste and Australia located immediately east ofseveral significant oil & gas fields and discoveries including the Laminaria,Corallina and Kakatua fields.In addition, a consortium of 5 companies led by Oilex was last week awardedpermit W05-11, located in the offshore Carnarvon Basin to the north of theGoodwyn/North Rankin producing gas fields and to the north east of the Janz-Iogas discoveries.To date in India, Oilex has acquired interests in three fields, including a 45%interest in the onshore Cambay Field in Gujarat State - where drilling isscheduled to commence later this month - and a 40% interest in each of theSabarmati and Bhandut Fields, subject to the approval of the Government ofIndia.Earlier this year, the Company was awarded an onshore block in Oman with itsIndian partners and farmed in with Videocon Industries Ltd and Gujarat StatePetroleum Corporation on an offshore block in the Otway Basin in SouthAustralia. -ENDS- Released by: On behalf of: Jan Hope/Nicholas Read Oilex NL Jan Hope & Partners Bruce McCarthy - Managing Director Telephone: (+61-8) 9388-1474 Telephone: (+61-8) 9226-5577 Web: www.oilex.com.auBackground InformationOilex (ASX: OEX, AIM: OEX) is an international oil and gas company, listed onthe ASX and AIM, which has established a diversified international portfolio ofexploration and production interests in India, offshore Australia and othercountries within the Indian Ocean rim.The company has interests in three "brownfield" re-development projects inIndia, as well as exploration concessions offshore Australia and onshore Oman,all in joint venture with major Indian companies. Activities are due to startin India in August 2006 with drilling on the Cambay Field and acquisition ofseismic in October 2006. In Oman, seismic acquisition is planned to start late2006 with drilling to commence mid-2007. In July 2006, Oilex completed a A$20million capital raising to underpin its growth strategy.The company has built an accomplished technical and executive team with asignificant depth of experience unparalleled for a company of its size. Oilexhas three offices - two in India where operations and government relations arebased and its Perth Head Office, where geotechnical work is based. -ENDS- Level 3, 50 Kings Park Road West Perth Western Australia 6005 P.O. Box 588 West Perth Western Australia 6872 Telephone (61 8) 9226 5577 Facsimile (61 8) 9226 2108 email: [email protected] www.oilex.com.au ENDOILEX NLRelated Shares:
OEX.L