Investment in Oil Field
Petrofac Limited
09 November 2006
PETROFAC LIMITED
("PETROFAC")
INVESTMENT IN TUNISIAN INTEREST
Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, announces
that its Resources division has agreed to acquire a 45% interest in the Chergui
concession, Tunisia, for a cash consideration of approximately US$30 million.
Petrofac will be operator of the concession.
Petrofac has agreed to acquire the interest from Entreprise Tunisienne
D'Activities Petrolieres (ETAP), the Tunisian state oil company, which holds the
remaining 55% interest. Completion of the transaction remains subject to
approval by the relevant government authorities.
The Chergui gas field, located on and around Kerkennah Island, near Sfax,
Tunisia, was discovered as part of the West Kerkennah exploration permit granted
in the late 1970's with preliminary reserves estimates of approximately 50
billion standard cubic feet (SCF) under the anticipated development programme.
Petrofac's share of the investment required to complete the development is
expected to be approximately $20 million. The construction of a 20 million SCF
per day central production facility and a 57km pipeline to shore is already
underway, the completion of which will be managed by Petrofac. Commencement of
production from the field is expected during 2007, with plateau rates expected
to be maintained for around four years with a further eight years of operation
beyond that. Produced gas is to be sold to Societe Tunisienne d'Electricite et
Gaz (STEG) under the gas pricing formula fixed by existing law, in which the
price of gas is linked to FOB Med Fuel oil prices.
Amjad Bseisu, Chief Executive of Petrofac Resources, said: "Tunisia has a
well-developed and stable hydrocarbon regime which offers interesting
opportunities for Petrofac. We believe that the objectives of ETAP and the
Tunisian government can be met through our strong engineering and operational
capabilities whilst co-investment with ETAP ensures alignment as their
development partner. Chergui is an attractive investment and fits our business
model of working with national oil companies and local partners to catalyse
developments."
Ayman Asfari, Group Chief Executive, Petrofac Limited, said: "We have been
active in Tunisia through our Engineering & Construction division for some time
and this investment brings an exciting opportunity to leverage our service
divisions' capabilities whilst acting as the development partner to a national
oil company."
Ends
For further information, contact:
Petrofac Limited +44 (0) 20 7811 4900
Ayman Asfari, Group Chief Executive
Keith Roberts, Chief Financial Officer
Robin Caiger, Head of Investor Relations
Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial +44 (0) 20 7861 3232
Ann-marie Wilkinson
Geoff Callow
Notes to Editors
Petrofac
Petrofac is a leading international provider of facilities solutions to the oil
and gas production and processing industry, with a diverse client portfolio
including many of the world's leading integrated, independent and national oil
and gas companies. Petrofac is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PFC)
and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Through its three divisions, Engineering & Construction, Operations Services and
Resources, Petrofac designs and builds oil and gas facilities; operates,
maintains or manages facilities and trains personnel; and, where return criteria
are met and service revenue synergies identified, co-invests with clients and
partners. Petrofac's range of services allows it to help meet its clients' needs
across the life cycle of oil and gas assets.
With approximately 8,000 employees, Petrofac operates out of four strategically
located international centres, in Aberdeen, Sharjah, Woking and Mumbai and a
further 13 offices worldwide. The predominant focus of Petrofac's business is
on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) and the Far East.
For additional information, please refer to the Petrofac website at
www.petrofac.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange