Irish oil & gas explorer PetroNeft completes Russian gas well deal

Tomsk, March 9 - Neftegaz.RU. Irish oil & gas explorer PetroNeft Resources has completed its acquisition of a 40% stake in a Russian gas well, The Irish times reported.
PetroNeft, which operates in the Tomsk Oblast, said on March 8, that it has completed the deal with Belgrave Naftogas, formerly Arawak Energy Russia, in relation to Licence 67.

The deal means that PetroNeft’s interest in the licence has risen from 50 % to 90 %.
The Dublin-listed company also has a 50 % operated interest in Licence 61.
The transaction value is $2.9 million (€2.44 million), which has been satisfied through the issuance of 80,000,000 PetroNeft ordinary shares to Belgrave Naftogas for a value of $1.2 million, and cash consideration of $1.7 million, which will be financed through a 3-year loan from Belgrave Naftogas to PetroNeft.

David Sturt, СEO of PetroNeft, said:

• The licence is an asset which has «significant potential value»
• Over the last 2 years, our understanding of this licence has improved considerably and we are delighted to be bringing it into production
• With oil prices improving and a favourable tax treatment for this licence, we see this as an investment which can deliver significant value at low cost

As a result of the deal, the PetroNeft shareholding of its chairman, Alastair McBain, will increase to 70,298,500 ordinary shares, representing a 7.6 % interest in the company.
This is because Mr McBain is also a director of Belgrave Naftogas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sarum Energy, where he holds a 72 % interest.