Tap Oil Ltd., Perth, is under siege from Thai millionaire Chatchai Yenbamroong’s Northern Gulf Petroleum (NGP).
NGP recently increased its holding in Tap to 19.98% from 6% and the company is now seeking to control Tap by replacing its board with its own nominees.
Tap’s major asset is 30% of Manora oil field, which came on stream in November and hit peak production several weeks ago (OGJ Online, Nov. 12, 2014). NGP is a joint venture partner in the field, which lies in the Gulf of Thailand.
NGP wants to remove Tap directors Doug Bailey, Troy Haden, and Michael Sandy and replace them with David Whitby (former chief executive officer of Nido Petroleum), Alan Stein (founder of Neon Energy), David Johnson and James Menzies.
Yenbamroong is using a Section 203D notice for the move which requires 2 months’ notice prior to the calling of an extraordinary general meeting.
Tap received the notice just after successfully renegotiating its Manora debt facility with BNP Paribas and Siam Commercial Bank with an ability to draw down $78.9 million—$10 million more than the previous arrangement. This ensures the company can meet all its financial commitments.
Tap also put in place a hedging program for 495,000 bbl of oil from Manora at $62.75/bbl to support the new facility. It has also revised the field development drilling program.
The Manora program now calls for seven of the originally proposed 10 development wells. Four wells have been deferred or cancelled.
Tap’s total estimated capital expenditure at Manora is about $105 million after repayment of the carry of NGP and reserve payments of up to $29.85 million during the first four years of production, assuming 2P reserves in the field remain above 10 million bbl.
SOURCE: http://goo.gl/nuY9ba