Update on proposed acquisition in Williston Basin

RNS Number : 1186W

Zephyr Energy PLC

20 December 2021

 

Prior to publication, the information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the UK Market Abuse Regulation. With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

20 December 2021

Zephyr Energy plc

("Zephyr" or the "Company")

Update on proposed acquisition of non-operated production assets in the Williston Basin

Zephyr Energy plc (AIM: ZPHR) (OTCQB: ZPHRF), the Rocky Mountain oil and gas company focused on responsible resource development from carbon-neutral operations, provides an update on its proposed acquisition of non-operated working interests in the Williston Basin, North Dakota, U.S. (the "Acquisition").

On 22 November 2021, Zephyr announced the Acquisition and outlined a proposed closing date of 22 December 2021. However, given the ongoing disruption caused by the global pandemic, and in particular the rapid advance of the Omicron variant since the initial announcement of the Acquisition, the Company now anticipates that completion of the Acquisition will occur during January 2022 (the "completion"). 

Although the completion has been delayed, the Company has made excellent progress towards securing the structured debt funding necessary for completion, and the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") looks forward to providing further updates in the New Year.

Colin Harrington, Chief Executive of Zephyr, said : "The Board prides itself on setting and meeting ambitious targets and deadlines for the Company.  Unfortunately, the spread of the Omicron variant has made the delay to completion unavoidable, in spite of our best efforts to finalise the transaction prior to the commencement of the holiday period.

"While it is frustrating that completion won't occur in the 2021 calendar year, we remain one hundred per cent. committed to the transaction and continue to believe that the assets being acquired will be a fantastic addition to our portfolio."

"In the interim, I'd like to wish all of our stakeholders a peaceful and healthy holiday period, and I'd like to thank our staff and Shareholders for their incredible support over the past twelve months.

"I am exceptionally proud of the Company's achievements in 2021 - it was a period of intense activity and tremendous progress, as Zephyr transformed from a single project exploration company into a self-sustaining, cash-generating, carbon-neutral oil and natural gas producer.  On our Paradox project, we delivered multiple exciting milestones in pursuit of a goal to open up a new hydraulically-stimulated resource play in the U.S.  In December, our operated efforts culminated with a highly successful 23-day production test during which the State 16-2LN-CC, the Paradox Basin's first modern hydraulically-stimulated horizontal oil & gas well, flowed higher than expected volumes of hydrocarbons and demonstrated much greater reserve potential than forecast. 

"In addition, we sourced and completed five separate acquisitions throughout the year, resulting in a growing portfolio of operated and non-operated production and growth assets across two established U.S. oil producing basins, all during a time of significant disruption in the upstream industry. I'm particularly proud that we executed our strategy while staying directly in line with our mission to be responsible stewards of investors' capital and responsible stewards of the environment in which we work.

"As we approach the end of 2021, Zephyr is ideally positioned as a cash-generating platform with significant near-term growth potential, from which we aim to deliver substantial additional value for our Shareholders in 2022." 

Contacts:

Zephyr Energy plc Colin Harrington (CEO) Chris Eadie (CFO)	Tel: [phone]
Allenby Capital Limited  - AIM Nominated Adviser Jeremy Porter / Liz Kirchner	Tel: [phone]
Turner Pope Investments  - Broker James Pope / Andy Thacker Flagstaff Strategic and Investor Communications Tim Thompson / Mark Edwards / Fergus Mellon	Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]

Dr Gregor Maxwell, BSc Hons. Geology and Petroleum Geology, PhD, Technical Adviser to the Board of Zephyr Energy plc, who meets the criteria of a qualified person under the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies - June 2009, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this announcement.

 

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