OPHR Ophir Energy Plc

TIDMOPHR

RNS Number : 8054O

Ophir Energy Plc

10 November 2016

10 November 2016

Ophir and OneLNG to form a

Joint Operating Company to develop Fortuna FLNG Project

Ophir Holdings & Ventures LTD ("Ophir"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ophir Energy plc, and OneLNG(SM) , a joint venture between subsidiaries of Golar LNG Limited and Schlumberger, announce that they have signed a binding Shareholders' Agreement to establish a Joint Operating Company ("JOC") to develop the Fortuna project, in Block R, offshore Equatorial Guinea utilising Golar's FLNG technology.

OneLNG and Ophir will have 66.2% and 33.8% ownership of the JOC respectively (with economic entitlements materially consistent with the equity interest in the JOC(1) ). The JOC will facilitate the financing, construction, development and operation of the integrated Fortuna project and, from Final Investment Decision ("FID"), will own Ophir's share of the Block R licence and the Gandria FLNG vessel. This innovative structure aligns investment across the value chain and provides a framework to promptly deliver a fully financed project.

The Shareholders' Agreement and FID are subject to, amongst other things:

   --     agreement of final terms and execution of documentation for the project debt financing 
   --     approval by the shareholders of Ophir Energy plc 
   --     approval by the government of Equatorial Guinea 

FID is now expected to take place in 1H 2017 with first gas anticipated in 1H 2020. Initial offtake is expected to be 2.2-2.5 mtpa for a duration of between 15 and 20 years which will monetise around 2.6 Tcf of the discovered resource.

The expected total capital expenditure for the integrated project is approximately $2 billion to reach first gas. Approximately $1.2 billion is expected to be debt financed, with full drawdown by the start of commercial operations. Prior to FID, a decision will be taken as to the final offtake pricing mechanism. Shortlisted proposals from potential offtakers will be evaluated on the basis of value maximisation. At an assumed FOB gas price of $6/mmbtu the JOC will generate approximately $560 million in cash flow (pre debt service) per annum.

Nick Cooper, Chief Executive of Ophir, commented: "Formation of the Fortuna JOC provides the framework for FID and clear line of sight to first gas. This progress is due to the innovative partnering between OneLNG and Ophir, the quality of the resource base, the excellent project economics and support from the Government of Equatorial Guinea.

"Ophir's committed future expenditure to first gas will not exceed $150 million and certain other commercial exposures have been limited. We will now be able to advance the project while preserving our balance sheet strength."

Jeff Goodrich, CEO of OneLNG commented: "OneLNG was formed to provide an integrated approach to operators to reduce risk and costs and accelerate the time to monetize stranded gas reserves, and thereby transforming the economic viability of such projects. We are pleased to sign a shareholders' agreement with Ophir for the formation of the Fortuna JOC. We look forward to working with Ophir and all of the other stakeholders to deliver OneLNG's and Africa's first deep-water FLNG project."

1 - Except in a higher price environment.

Ophir management will host a call for analysts and investors at 8.30am this morning. See below for details:

   Participant Dial In:                          +44 (0)1452 555 566 
   PIN:                                                       18084763 

A replay of the call will be available from later this morning on:

   Replay:                           +44 01452 550000 
   Code:                               18084763 

This announcement contains inside information.

For further enquiries please contact:

Ophir Energy plc + 44 (0) 20 7811 2400

Nick Cooper, CEO

Bill Higgs, COO

Tony Rouse, CFO

Geoff Callow, Head of IR and Corporate Communications

OneLNG +44 (0)20 7063 7900

Stuart Buchanan, Head of Investor Relations

Brunswick (PR Adviser to Ophir) +44 (0)20 7404 5959

Patrick Handley

Wendel Verbeek

About OneLNG:

OneLNG is joint venture between Golar LNG Limited and Schlumberger to rapidly develop low cost gas reserves to LNG. The combination of Schlumberger reservoir knowledge, wellbore technologies and production management capabilities, with Golar's low cost FLNG solution offers gas resource owners a faster and lower cost development solution that increases the net present value of their asset.

About Ophir:

Ophir Energy is an independent Upstream oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Africa and Asia. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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