PetroNeft having problems with financing, to consider selling assets
TOMSK. Nov 25 (Interfax) - The Irish PetroNeft Resources, which extracts oil in the Tomsk region, says it is having problems in operations associated with financing.
According to information on the company's site, it has to postpone drilling of up to five operational wells on the prospective Cheremshanskoye field, despite the fact that PetroNeft signed a contract with the drilling company SSK oil services company earlier this year.
"Despite encouraging earlier communications, due to the on-going geopolitical situation, the bank is no longer able to provide a loan facility. The Company will continue to look for alternative financing avenues but at the same time recognizing that this is likely to be particularly challenging under the current circumstances," the company said.
Production at License 67 from the C-4 well on the Cheremshanskoye field remains stable at 303 barrels a day, the company said. In March 2021, the resources of the Cheremshanskoye field reached
19.26 million barrels in C1 and C2 categories, it said.
"As previously announced, the redemption date for the PetroGrand [Swedish company that earlier held licenses for oil exploration in Russia] loan facility is 15th Dec 2022 with all principal and interest due and payable on that date. We are in ongoing discussions with PetroGrand to investigate all possible options and will keep shareholders aware of any outcomes," the company said.
The company has also lost its auditor, BDO. PetroNeft has worked with it since 2019, but the company has decided to discontinue operations in Russia. PetroNeft has to look for a new auditor.
The conflict with Nord Imperial (an entity of the Indian ONGC), over which the company stopped giving oil from License 61(common name for several fields within the Tungolsky section in the Tomsk region, the license for exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons there is held by PetroNeft): previously, oil went via a pipeline owned by Nord Imperial, but PetroNeft refused to pay for transportation due to a dispute about the fairness of the tariff. The owner of the pipeline stopped taking oil and putting it into the Transneft system. The parties are now having litigation.
Due to the current problems, the company management intends to prepare strategic options of future operations to maximize its value for the shareholders. PetroNeft does not rule out full or partial sale of assets.
According to PetroNeft data as of November 14, 2022, the main shareholders of the company are Natlata Partners Limited (controlled by Maxim Korobov) with 25.7%, Lloyd Wiggins with 14.46%, Darya Shaftelskaya with 9.2%, J&E Davy with 6.6%, and Seguro Nominees Limited with 5.4%.