Tower Resources PLC Cameroon Update (7929K)
09 Maggio 2022 - 7:12PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMTRP
RNS Number : 7929K
Tower Resources PLC
09 May 2022
9 May 2022
Tower Resources plc
Cameroon Update
Tower Resources plc (the "Company" or "Tower" (TRP.L, TRP LN),
the AIM-listed oil and gas company with a focus on Africa, is
pleased to provide an update on activity in respect of its Thali
Production Sharing Contract (PSC), in the Rio Del Rey sedimentary
basin offshore Cameroon.
Tower is pleased to announce that the Minister of Mines,
Industry and Technological Development (MINMIDT) has, with the
support of the President of the Republic, agreed to grant a further
extension of the First Exploration Period of the Thali PSC to 11
May 2023.
Tower is also pleased to announce that it expects to complete
shortly a letter of intent (LOI) with Shelf Drilling to cover the
drilling and testing of the NJOM-3 well in the fourth quarter of
2022, using the Shelf Drilling Trident VIII jack-up drilling unit.
The terms of the draft LOI are confidential, but in line with
market levels and the Company's current budget for the well. With
rig day-rates, fuel and other costs all having risen during the
past year, the overall budget for the well is around 20% higher
than the original figure of around US$15 million, but with some
US$4 million of the cost already incurred and all long lead items
already purchased, Tower currently estimates the remaining cost at
around US$14 million. It should be stressed that among the budget
uncertainties is the number of separate zones that the Company will
wish to test, however it should also be understood that if we
choose to test more productive zones separately, then this will be
because the well prognosis is closer to the upper end of
expectations.
During the last six months the Company has also continued to
work on both the subsurface dataset and also the plans for
additional wells and early production from the Njonji structure,
following the drilling of the NJOM-3 well. The updated dataset has
allowed to further clarify the NJOM-3 well objectives, and Tower
has also had the opportunity to discuss alternative platform and
Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU) designs with potential
contractors and partners, which it is hoped will accelerate the
next steps following a successful NJOM-3 well test.
The Company has still not received an approval of the Beluga
Energy (Beluga) farmout as presented to MINMIDT in September 2021.
However, the Company has now informed the Minister that, upon
receiving the extension of the First License Period, it will no
longer be seeking approval of the farmout in its current form.
There are a number of reasons for this, but the most important is
that during the last six months while the Government of Cameroon
was conducting due diligence on the proposed transaction, the
market environment has changed considerably. In particular, the
Company has been in discussion with local banks in Cameroon
(including the bank with which it previously discussed this
transaction in 2019) and the Company now believes that debt
financing may be available to cover a significant portion of the
well cost. This should allow a restructured transaction which would
require less of the equity in the project to be given up in return
for the well funding, to the advantage of all parties. It should
also be noted that a restructured transaction (as contemplated in
the original farmout documents) does not require government
approval.
The Company intends to work with the banks with whom it
presently has discussions, and with Beluga and other interested
parties, to restructure the well financing over the next few
months, with the objective of concluding a revised transaction in
the third quarter of 2022, that is less dilutive to Tower
shareholders than the present farmout structure. The Company does
not intend to comment further on these discussions until they are
completed.
Next steps will include the finalisation of the well financing
and the rig contract and other service contracts in the third
quarter of 2022, by which time a narrower range for the planned
mobilisation of the rig will also be announced.
Jeremy Asher, Tower's Chairman and CEO, commented:
"We are pleased that we can finally share concrete news
regarding the progress on the NJOM-3 well on the Thali PSC area,
and we are grateful as always to MINMIDT, and to the President and
Prime Minister of the Republic of Cameroon, as well as our partners
at SNH, for their continued support. We realise that it has taken
longer than any of us would have liked to reach this point, but we
also feel that we have been able to make good use of the extra time
both to enhance our understanding of the subsurface and our plans
for the next steps on Thali, and also (we hope) to improve the
terms of the well financing. We continue to believe that Thali has
the potential to produce millions of barrels of oil over the next
few years, which will provide great benefit to both the Republic of
Cameroon and to our shareholders."
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of
UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via
Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain.
Contacts:
Tower Resources plc +44 20 7157 9625
Jeremy Asher
Chairman and CEO
Andrew Matharu
VP - Corporate Affairs
SP Angel Corporate Finance
LLP
Nominated Adviser and Joint
Broker
Stuart Gledhill
Caroline Rowe +44 20 3470 0470
Novum Securities Limited
Joint Broker
Jon Beliss
Colin Rowbury +44 20 7399 9400
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited
Joint Broker
Nick Lovering
Hugh Rich +44 20 7886 2500
Notes:
In accordance with the guidelines for the AIM market of the
London Stock Exchange, Dr Mark Enfield, BSc, PhD, and a member of
the Board of Tower Resources plc, who has over 30 years' experience
in the oil & gas industry, is the qualified person that has
reviewed and approved the technical content of this
announcement.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
MSCFLFEIERIAIIF
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 09, 2022 13:12 ET (17:12 GMT)
Grafico Azioni Tower Resources (LSE:TRP)
Storico
Da Gen 2025 a Feb 2025
Grafico Azioni Tower Resources (LSE:TRP)
Storico
Da Feb 2024 a Feb 2025