Placing to raise £1.785 million

RNS Number : 0292S

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings PLC

12 March 2021

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 12 March 2021

  Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc / Index: LSE / Epic: PRD / Sector: Oil & Gas

   LEI 213800L7QXFURBFLDS54

                                                              Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc

("Predator" or the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries "the Group")

Placing to raise  1.785 million

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc (PRD), the Jersey-based Oil and Gas Company with operations in Trinidad, Morocco and Ireland. is pleased to announce that it has conditionally placed 17 million   new ordinary shares of no par value in the Company (the "Placing Shares") at a placing price of 10.5 pence each (the "Placing Price") to raise £1,785,000 (before expenses) (the "Placing").

The Placing was significantly oversubscribed and utilises much of the Company's existing headroom shares under the Financial Conduct Authority restrictions for companies on the Official List (standard listing segment) of the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities .

Novum Securities are acting as sole placing agents to the Company.

Use of Proceeds

During the past 12 months of COVID-19, the Company has been able to focus on successfully developing its projects to a stage where substantive operational progress has been made and results achieved.  Additional business development opportunities have been created as the direct result of the progress made during this period.

Morocco

Timing of the MOU-1 well remains on track for Q2 2021, with drilling preparations well under way.

MOU-1 will test the western part of the 31.7km² MOU--4 Prospect, with Best Estimate and High Estimate gross gas recoverable resources of 393 and 944 BCF respectively. Additional Best Estimate and High Estimate gross recoverable gas resources of 426 and 879 BCF respectively can be targeted in a second prospect north of the MOU-1 well location ( SLR Consulting (Ireland) Ltd . independent Competent Person Report 2020).

Some of the funds raised will be used to:

· provide a contingency for the increase in certain MOU-1 well costs occasioned by the 12-month long COVID-19 pandemic leading to the additional expense burden to re-mobilise services and equipment previously immediately available in Morocco;

· enable long lead items necessary for a potential well testing programme to be pre-purchased and available at the well site ahead of drilling and also to provide a contingency for well completion and testing;

· prepare additional follow-up drilling locations based on the new seismic interpretation over the past 12 months ;

· commission a Front End Engineering Study to supply compressed natural gas to the Moroccan industrial market to support early monetisation of gas and an eventual Plan of Development submission;

Trinidad

Investigation of all potential CO2 EOR producers in the AT-4 Block has been completed and approval to re-start continuous CO2 injection over a continuous period of 9 months at AT-5X will be received shortly, together with approvals to reactivate several wells for return to production.

There are no changes to the previous guidance for the production plateau forecast - in the range 243 - 547 bopd. During the period from 10 February 2021 to 11 March 2021 WTI oil price has risen from  US$58.25/brl to US$64.7/brl.

Strengthening oil prices; the recognised and accepted technical success of the CO2 EOR Pilot Project at Inniss-Trinity; and positive dialogue between the Company and the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries in relation to developing the CO2 EOR potential for the benefit of Trinidad has allowed the Company to progress discussions with several in-country operators regarding expanding our CO2 EOR business.

Some of the funds raised will be used to:

· develop a new CO2 EOR Project in a different onshore oil field in Trinidad;

· evaluate the expansion of the current Inniss-Trinity CO2 EOR project to include other areas of the field.

Ireland

Substantive progress has been made during the last 12 months of COVID-19 restrictions in developing the Company's Floating Storage and Regasification Unit  ("FSRU") and LNG project in Ireland. Maintaining high visibility and emphasising its potential contribution to security of Ireland's energy supply has been a key public relations objective of the Company during this period.

Recently, as previously announced by the Company, " it was reported on the 6 February 2021 that technical problems had forced the shutdown of a key electricity generator (capacity 445 megawatts) until the end of June 2021. On average, gas-fired power plants meet almost 60% of Irish power demand. The shutdown coupled with cold weather on 6 January 2021 and low wind speeds, which cut off most renewable generators, resulted in "amber warnings" where there is enough power to meet demand but where reserve back-up power is critically low ".

Security of Ireland's energy supply is beginning to be addressed with even greater urgency as a result of recent public statements made in this context. The Company believes that it is an opportune time to use some of the funds raised to:

· develop and present to the Irish regulatory authorities an integrated project plan designed to help meet security of energy supply concerns; options for CO2 sequestration; and options for back-up power for data centres using greener energy. This will specifically address: 

-   utilising the Ram Head gas discovery in the Celtic Sea, still the subject of the Company's application for a successor authorisation, for gas storage and security of supply;

-  using the FSRU LNG concept to utilise the Kinsale pipeline for security and diversity of gas supply, from a source not generated by fracking, and for the working gas volumes required by the potential Ram Head gas storage facility;

- providing a potential CO2 storage site at Ram Head, which based on the Company's practical experience of geological sequestration of CO2 in Trinidad, may have better qualities for safe retention of CO2;

- evaluating green energy options for power generation as back-up for interruptible wind power and for data centres;

- developing an inclusive commercial model that would justify an investment in a coordinated infrastructure project of this scale.

New Business

Arising out of the success of the Pilot CO2 EOR Project in Trinidad, opportunities are becoming available in the general field of greener energy solutions and CO2 sequestration. The Company will explore these opportunities further and may invest in third party companies whose businesses could add value to the Company's existing projects.

Completion of the Placing

Completion of the Placing is conditional on, inter alia:-

the Placing Shares being admitted to listing on the Official List (standard listing segment) and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities ("Admission") on or before 26 March 2021 (or such later date as may be agreed by the Company and Novum Securities).

Admission, Settlement and Dealings in Placing Shares

Applications will be made to the FCA and to the London Stock Exchange for Admission in respect of all the Placing Shares proposed to be issued on completion of the Placing.  It is expected that Admission will become effective, and that dealings in the Placing Shares are expected to commence, at 8.00 a.m. on 26 March 2021.

The rights attaching to the Placing Shares will be uniform in all respects and all of the Placing Shares will rank pari passu and form a single class for all purposes with the existing issued shares of no par value in the Company.

Following Admission of the Placing Shares, the enlarged Share Capital will be  256,678,517 ordinary shares of no par value.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc commented :

"It has been an exceptionally busy 12 months for the Company during COVID-19 restrictions. We have been able to further develop and keep on track all of our three core projects. Realistically, 12 months ago, we would never have anticipated that all our projects would have reached such an advanced stage at the same time.

Strengthening oil prices and operational success provides the impetus for increasing investment in new CO2 EOR projects in Trinidad.

Flexibility to add additional drilling locations in Morocco warrants additional investment, as we seek to be the first company in Morocco to drill this year for low risk versus very high reward material, potentially transformational for the Company and our shareholders, gas resources with an early monetisation pathway based on low and manageable capital expenditures.

The security of energy supply issue in Ireland, which will have a negative impact on the price consumers may ultimately have to pay for electricity, is the perfect scenario for an investment in the Ram Head security of energy supply study. 2020 has been busy but 2021 is set to be an eventful year for the Company with multiple value-creating operations and opportunities for our shareholders for a relatively small deployment of additional working capital to provide scope for prudent business, value-enhancing expansion."  

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse

For more information, please visit the Company's website at  www.predatoroilandgas.com : 

Enquiries:

Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc Dr. Stephen Staley Non-executive Chairman Paul Griffiths  Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Novum Securities Limited Jon Belliss Optiva Securities Limited Christian Dennis	Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
Flagstaff Strategic and Investor Communications Tim Thompson  Mark Edwards Fergus Mellon	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

Notes to Editors:

Predator is an oil and gas exploration company with the objective of participating with FRAM Exploration Trinidad Ltd. in further developing the remaining oil reserves and sequestrating anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the producing Inniss Trinity oil field onshore Trinidad, primarily through the application of C02 EOR technology. Potential for cash flow exists by executing a successful Pilot Enhanced Oil Recovery project using locally sourced liquid carbon dioxide for injection into and storage within the oil reservoirs ("C02 EOR"). Near-term expansion and production growth potential is focussed on upscaling the C02 EOR operations in the Inniss-Trinity oil field, subject to all necessary approvals. 

Predator is operator of the Guercif Petroleum Agreement onshore Morocco which is prospective for Tertiary gas in prospects less than 10 kilometres from the Maghreb gas pipeline.  A drilling programme, subject to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, targeting material prospective gas resources is scheduled for Q2 2021.

In addition, Predator also owns and operates exploration and appraisal assets in licensing options offshore Ireland, for which Successor Authorisations have been applied for, adjoining Vermilion's Corrib gas field in the Slyne Basin on the Atlantic Margin and east of the Kinsale gas field and Barryroe oil field in the Celtic Sea.

The Company has a highly experienced management team with a proven track record in the oil and gas industry.

 

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