
7
March 2025
Tower Resources
plc
("Tower"
or the "Company")
Namibia and Cameroon
Update
Tower Resources plc (AIM: TRP), the
AIM-listed oil and gas company focused on Africa, is pleased to
announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary Tower Resources (Namibia)
Limited ("TRNL") has agreed to purchase an additional 5% interest
in the PEL96 license offshore Namibia from its local partner, ZM
Fourteen Investment (Pty) Ltd ("ZM"), and is also pleased to
provide investors with a general update on preparations for
drilling the NJOM-3 well on the Thali license, offshore
Cameroon.
Namibia
TRNL has agreed to purchase a 5%
interest in the PEL96 license from ZM, half of ZM's current 10%
interest in the license, for a cash consideration on completion of
US$375,000. ZM's remaining 5% interest in the PEL96 license will be
fully carried through to production, as is the 10% interest held by
the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Proprietary) Limited
("NAMCOR"). TRNL has already funded all of the expenses associated
with ZM's interest to date, so no further reimbursement of past
costs is due to ZM. Completion of the purchase is subject to usual
conditions precedent, identical to those in the farm-out agreement
that TRNL concluded with Prime Global Energies Limited ("Prime") in
January 2025, including Namibian government approvals and consent
of the other partners in the PEL96 license, and the two
transactions are expected to complete at or about the same time, as
both are subject to similar government consents. ZM has also
confirmed its consent to the TRNL-Prime farm-out agreement. Tower
expects to fund this acquisition on behalf of TRNL using a portion
of the substantial amount of cash it is due to receive from the
TRNL-Prime farm-out completion.
Following completion of this
purchase from ZM, and the farm-out of a 25% interest in the license
to Prime, the interests in the PEL96 license will be as
follows:
TRNL
60% (Operator)
Prime
25%
NAMCOR 10%
(Carried)
ZM
5% (Carried)
The next step in the approval
process in Namibia is to provide details of both the TRNL-Prime
farm-out agreement and this latest TRNL-ZM agreement to NAMCOR, to
seek NAMCOR's consent to both transactions, after which the full
package of documents and consents will be forwarded to the Ministry
of Mines and Energy ("MME") for Ministerial approval. However, the
Ministry is already aware of both transactions and is expecting the
formal documentation in due course.
Tower still anticipates that the
completion of the TRNL-Prime farm-out agreement may occur before
the end of March, but as previously explained, this depends on the
approval processes which involve several counterparties. However,
the Company remains confident that the approvals will be provided,
and that both the TRNL-Prime transaction and this latest TRNL-ZM
transaction will be completed as anticipated in the Company's
announcement on 10 January 2025.
Cameroon
Tower Resources Cameroon SA
("TRCSA") has already submitted the TRCSA-Prime farm-out agreement
documentation and the request for a year's further extension of the
First Exploration Period of the Thali license to the Cameroon
Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development
("MINMIDT") for approval in January, and has discussed both matters
with MINMIDT, the Societe Nationale des Hydrocarbures ("SNH") and
the Cameroon Prime Minister. The Company's understanding is that
the matter is now with the Office of the Presidency and awaiting
formal Presidential approval. As with the Namibia farm-out, the
Company remains confident that the approvals will be provided, and
still hopes this may be around the end of March.
The Company has been offered a
number of rigs which could be available at different times between
June and December 2025, and on different, but reasonable, terms.
The Company hopes to make a rig selection decision, albeit subject
to the requisite approvals being granted, at the end of March or
during April. For commercial reasons, the Company will not be
commenting further on these discussions until they are
finalised.
In order to support the procurement
process for the rig and associated services, and to minimise the
time required between the farm-out completion and being ready to
take delivery of the rig, the Company has already started to make
selective hires in anticipation of drilling, initially through
flexible contractor agreements. This includes a Senior Operations
Geologist reporting to Mark Enfield, Tower's Exploration Director,
and a Senior Drilling Engineer reporting to the Company's Drilling
Manager, Phil Church at Bedrock Drilling. Tower is also adding a
highly experienced member of staff to its financial team to support
the ongoing discussions regarding future bank financing.
Tower Resources Chairman & CEO, Jeremy Asher,
commented:
"We are pleased with the progress we
are making and also with the acquisition of this small additional
interest in the Namibian PEL96 from our local partner ZM. This
acquisition reflects our wish for ZM to move to a more sustainable
fully-carried position, and also reflects our faith in the value of
the PEL96 license at the same time that we are bringing in a new
partner to manage risk and share funding obligations.
"We are already working hard on the
well planning in Cameroon, as we are confident about the approval
process, and want to ensure we are ready to drill the NJOM-3 well
in good time. Forward planning usually improves both time and
budget performance. I look forward to keeping you updated with our
further progress."
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
Jeremy Asher
Chairman & CEO
Andrew Matharu
VP
- Corporate Affairs
|
+44
20 7157 9625
|
BlytheRay
Financial PR
Tim Blythe
Megan Ray
|
+44
20 7138 3204
|
|
|
SP
Angel Corporate Finance LLP
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker
Stuart Gledhill
Jen Clarke
|
+44
20 3470 0470
|
Axis
Capital Markets Limited
Joint Broker
Lewis Jones
|
+44
203 026 2689
|
|
|
Novum Securities Ltd
Joint Broker
Jon Bellis
Colin Rowbury
|
+44
20 7399 9400
|
About Tower Resources
Tower Resources plc is an AIM listed
energy company building a balanced portfolio of energy
opportunities in Africa across the exploration and production cycle
in oil and gas and beyond. The Company's current focus is on
advancing its operations in Cameroon to deliver cash flow through
short-cycle development and rapid production with long term upside,
and de-risking attractive exploration licenses through acquiring 3D
seismic data in the emerging oil and gas provinces of Namibia and
South Africa, where world-class discoveries have recently been
made.
Tower's strategy is centred around
stable jurisdictions that the Company knows well and that offer
excellent fiscal terms. Through its Directors and staff, Tower has
access to decades of expertise and experience in Cameroon and
Namibia, and its joint venture with New Age builds on years of
experience in South Africa.