TIDMZEN
RNS Number : 8950V
Zenith Energy Ltd
06 December 2023
December 6, 2023
ZENITH ENERGY LTD.
("Zenith" or the "Company")
ICC Arbitration for SLK against Tunisia
Zenith Energy Ltd. (LSE: ZEN; OSE: ZENA; OTCQB : ZENAF ) , the
listed international energy production and development company,
announces that its fully owned subsidiary, Canadian North Africa
Oil and Gas Limited ("CNAOG") has initiated an ICC (International
Chamber of Commerce) arbitration case seated in Paris against the
Republic of Tunisia (the "CNAOG ICC Arbitration").
Background
As announced by the Company on November 22, 2021, Zenith
Overseas Assets Holdings Ltd ( "ZOA"), a fully owned subsidiary of
Zenith, entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire a 100%
interest in the issued, allotted, outstanding and fully paid-up
share capital of CNAOG, previously named CNPC International
(Tunisia) Ltd, a then subsidiary of China National Petroleum
Corporation, one of the largest state-owned energy companies in the
world (the "Acquisition").
CNAOG held an undivided 22.5% interest in the North Kairouan
permit and the Sidi El Kilani Concession in Tunisia ("SLK" or the
"Concession"), as well as still owning 25% of the issued share
capital of Compagnie Tuniso-Koweito-Chinoise de Pétrole ("CTKCP"),
the operating company of SLK.
For reasons unknown to the Company and devoid of any legal
grounding, the Tunisian State represented by the Ministry of
Industry, Mines and Hydrocarbons arbitrarily refused to recognise
the Acquisition of CNAOG, which was performed in accordance with
all applicable laws and duly notified to the local authorities.
It is to be underlined that the Ministry's position is in
contravention of established precedent, including the acquisition
of Ecumed Petroleum Tunisia Ltd, which holds a 100% interest in the
Robbana and El Bibane concessions by Compagnie Du Desert Ltd
("CDD"), a fully owned subsidiary of Zenith, announced on April 30,
2021, as well as the acquisition of Ecumed Petroleum Zarzis Ltd
("EPZ"), which held a 45% interest in the Ezzaouia concession and
still owns 50 percent ownership of MARETAP, the joint operating
company for the Ezzaouia concession, first announced on March 15,
2021.
Claim
The Company's is pleased to confirm that it has formalised a
claim for damages in the amount of US$85.8 million (the "Claimed
Amount") in connection with the CNAOG ICC Arbitration.
The Claimed Amount has been assessed by a third-party expert
consultant in consideration of the following:
-- CNAOG's lost production revenue and associated profitability,
during a period of high energy prices, from the SLK Concession
until its initial expiry in December 2022
-- The volume of crude oil produced from the Concession and
allocated to and received by CNAOG upon the completion of the
Acquisition
-- Unpaid invoices for oil production by ETAP, the national oil company of Tunisia.
-- The value of the 45% interest in the renewal of the SLK
Concession, representing a breach of CNAOG's right to renew its
previously existing 22.5% interest in SLK, as well as the 22.5%
interest held by Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company
K.S.C.C, which relinquished its interest in the Concession before
its initial expiry.
The Company wishes to clarify that the CNAOG ICC Arbitration is
being performed in parallel to the ICC Arbitration against ETAP,
announced to the market on November 1, 2023, for a total amount of
US$6.5 million, and to the arbitration pending before the
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in
Washington DC ("ICSID Arbitration") , for a total cumulative
claimed amount of at least US$48 million , announced to the market
on June 7, 2023 , following various breaches of bilateral trade
agreements committed by the Republic of Tunisia .
Andrea Cattaneo , Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"It is again regrettable that we have been compelled to seek
legal redress by way of our third arbitration in connection with
our Tunisian assets for the very material commercial harm we have
suffered because of the arbitrary conduct of the Tunisian
authorities.
Zenith Energy is one of the few energy companies that invested
in Tunisia in recent years during a period when most energy
companies, irrespective of size, were actively seeking to leave the
country.
The Board is fully confident in the merits of the CNAOG ICC
Arbitration and will take all necessary action to ensure
shareholders are fully compensated for the damage they have
sustained ."
Notes to Editors :
Zenith Energy Ltd. is a revenue generating, independent energy
company with production, exploration and development assets in
North Africa and Europe, including electricity generation in Italy.
The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market
(LSE: ZEN), the Euronext Growth of the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE:
ZENA)
and the Venture Market of the OTCQB (OTCQB: ZENAF).
Zenith's strategic focus is on pursuing development
opportunities through the development of proven revenue generating
energy production assets, as well as low-risk exploration
activities in assets with existing production.
For more information, please visit: www.zenithenergy.ca
Twitter: @zenithenergyltd
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3A5PRJb
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 a
Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain.
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