Tullow Oil PLC Acquisition of Spring Energy / Sale of SNS assets (1978T)
December 11 2012 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMTLW
RNS Number : 1978T
Tullow Oil PLC
11 December 2012
News Release
Acquisition of major oil exploration portfolio in Norway
Planned disposal of UK and Dutch gas assets
11 December 2012 - Tullow Oil plc ("Tullow") announces today
that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Spring Energy
Norway AS ("Spring"), a Norwegian exploration company, for a
purchase price of $372.3 million which will be adjusted for working
capital. The purchase has an effective date of 1 September 2012.
Tullow is also announcing today that it intends to begin a process
to dispose of its exploration, development and production assets in
the UK and Dutch Southern North Sea ("SNS") gas basin. These two
transactions follow Tullow's strategy of active portfolio
management and monetisation of non-core assets and will enhance the
Group's considerable oil exploration portfolio.
A conference call hosted by Tullow Executives will be held at
0800hrs UK time today. Details can be found at the bottom of this
release.
Acquisition of Spring Energy
Spring is a Norwegian oil exploration company which holds 28
offshore licences across Norway's continental shelf in North,
Norwegian and Barents Seas covering just over 18,000 sq km. Spring
is a very successful oil explorer having made six commercial
discoveries out of 12 wells drilled since 2008. In 2013-14, Spring
currently has plans to drill up to 16 exploration wells of which
three are operated. Tullow's assessment of Spring's exploration
portfolio is that it contains in excess of 230 mmboe of risked
prospective resources and has existing reserves and resources of 24
mmboe. The vendors of Spring are HitecVision, a private equity
company (87.6%) and other shareholders (12.4%) including some
current Spring staff.
Spring has an experienced team of 37 people based in Oslo who
have a successful track record of finding and monetising Norwegian
oil discoveries. The Spring team will form the basis of Tullow
Norge AS. Spring's Chief Executive, Roar Tessem, becomes Managing
Director of Tullow Norge and will be responsible for managing
Tullow's assets offshore Norway and Greenland.
Following Tullow's pre-qualification as an Operator on the
Norwegian Continental Shelf earlier this year, the acquisition of
Spring enables us to rapidly build a strong platform for future
growth in Norway. In common with Tullow, Spring recently applied
for licences in Norway's 22(nd) licence round.
In addition to the purchase price, a bonus payment has also been
agreed with the vendors in the event of commercial exploration
success. This payment is limited to four specific prospects and
will be paid on a sliding scale up to a maximum of $150 million per
prospect and $300 million in aggregate. This acquisition remains
subject to approval from the Norwegian Ministries of Energy and
Finance.
Disposal of UK and Dutch SNS gas assets
Tullow is also announcing today that it intends to begin a
process to divest its exploration, development and production
assets in the UK and Dutch Southern North Sea. These gas assets
currently produce approximately 18,000 barrels of oil equivalent
per day. It is hoped that this process will be completed by the end
of 2013.
The Southern North Sea business has been highly successful for
Tullow and a key contributor to the Group's growth over the past
decade. However, following exploration and development success in
Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, these assets are now non-core to the Group
and no longer fit within Tullow's light oil focused portfolio.
Jeffries International Ltd have been appointed to manage the
sale of these assets.
Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive of Tullow Oil plc, commented
today,
"Active portfolio management is a key part of Tullow's
exploration-led strategy. These transactions are part of an ongoing
process of carefully refocusing our business and ensuring efficient
allocation of capital by monetising non-core assets and
re-investing the proceeds in high potential oil exploration. Our
Southern North Sea gas assets are therefore no longer core to
Tullow's business which has a clear focus on light oil in Africa
and the Atlantic Margins. The acquisition of Spring adds a material
portfolio of oil exploration assets and high quality people that
will provide a superb foundation for building our portfolio and
expertise in the highly prospective North Atlantic."
Conference call with Tullow Executives - 0800hrs UK time
To access the call please use telephone numbers / code below. A
replay facility will be available from approximately noon on 11
December 2012 until 17 December 2012. The telephone numbers and
access codes are:
Live event Replay facility available from
1200hrs 11 December
====================================== =====================================
+44 (0)20 7136 +44 (0)20 7111
UK Participants 2055 UK Participants 1244
=================== ================= ================== =================
Irish Participants +353 (0)1 4860920 Irish Participants +353 (0)1 4860902
=================== ================= ================== =================
Confirmation Code 7236984 Replay Passcode 7236984
=================== ================= ================== =================
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tullow Oil plc Citigate Dewe Murray Consultants First House
Rogerson
(London) (London) (Dublin) (Oslo)
(+44 20 3249 9000) (+44 207 638 (+353 1 498 (+47 908
9571) 0300) 79 108)
Chris Perry (Investor Martin Jackson Joe Murray Geir Gjervan
Relations)
James Arnold (Investor Jack Rich Ed Micheau
Relations)
George Cazenove (Media
Relations)
======================== ================= =================== ==============
Notes to Editors
Spring Energy licence list
NORTH SEA
------------- ----------------- --------------
Licence Working Interest Operator
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL055/PL055B 2.692% / Statoil
2.5 %
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL185 2.692% Statoil
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 405 / 15 % Centrica
405 B
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 406 20 % Premier
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 407 20 % BG
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 495 40 % Lundin
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 507 20 % Wintershall
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 509S 30 % Wintershall
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 542 40 % Det Norske
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 550 90 % Spring Energy
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 551 80% Spring Energy
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 577 30% Wintershall
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 619 20 % Total
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 626 30 % Det Norske
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 636 20 % GDF Suez
------------- ----------------- --------------
NORWEGIAN
SEA
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 511 10 % Wintershall
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 519 20 % Lundin
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 583 30 % Spring Energy
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 591 60 % Spring Energy
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 596 15 % ExxonMobil
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 639 30% Spring Energy
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 642 20 % Repsol
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 651 35 % E. ON Ruhrgas
------------- ----------------- --------------
BARENTS SEA
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 438 17.5 % Lundin
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 490 30% Lundin
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 537 20 % OMV
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 610 25 % GDF Suez
------------- ----------------- --------------
PL 659 10 % Det Norske
------------- ----------------- --------------
Tullow Oil
Tullow is a leading independent oil & gas, exploration and
production group, quoted on the London, Irish and Ghanaian (symbol:
TLW) stock exchanges and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The Group has interests in over 100 exploration and production
licences across 24 countries and focuses on four core areas:
Africa, Europe, South Asia and South America.
For further information please refer to our website at
www.tullowoil.com.
Follow Tullow on:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/TullowOilplc
You Tube: www.youtube.com/TullowOilplc
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TullowOilplc
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/Tullow-Oil
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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