Ophir Energy Plc Execution of the Fortuna Umbrella Agreement (8452D)
02 Mai 2017 - 8:02AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMOPHR
RNS Number : 8452D
Ophir Energy Plc
02 May 2017
2 May 2017
Ophir Energy & OneLNG
Execution of the Fortuna Umbrella Agreement
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Ophir Holdings & Ventures
Ltd, a subsidiary of Ophir Energy ("Ophir"), OneLNG(SA) and La
Compañía Nacional De Petróleos De Guinea Ecuatorial ("GEPetrol")
have signed a detailed Umbrella Agreement ("UA") that establishes
the full legal and fiscal framework for the Fortuna FLNG Project,
Africa's first deepwater FLNG project.
The UA reconfirms the participation rights of GEPetrol as
partners for 20% of the upstream portion of the project, and for a
future potential participation of up to 30% ownership of the
midstream FLNG vessel by the Republic of Equatorial Guinea or a
designated State company. These participations create alignment
with the EG Government throughout the project value chain from
upstream through to LNG marketing. Signing the UA was one of the
key milestones to be delivered ahead of Final Investment Decision
("FID"). The Fortuna FLNG Project FID is on schedule for mid-2017
with first gas expected in mid-2020.
Project Update
The execution of the UA completes one of the four key milestones
required for FID. The other three milestones are: (i) the award of
construction contracts for the upstream and midstream vessel, (ii)
the completion of the project finance facility and (iii) a decision
on the amount of gas to be termed at FID and signature of resulting
LNG SPAs. With respect to these milestones:
(i) The impending award of construction contracts is well progressed and on schedule.
(ii) Term sheets have been agreed with a consortium of
China-based lenders. The counter-parties to the financing have now
entered into final documentation stage.
(iii) The Fortuna partners will decide in the coming weeks the
amount of the expected 2.5MMTPA to put under contract at FID from
the several offtake options available.
As previously announced 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.
His Excellency, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and
Hydrocarbons for the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, commented:
"This agreement is in line with the government's objective to
deliver important projects that monetizes our gas, promotes local
content and brings world-class petroleum technology to Equatorial
Guinea. It also has brought us one crucial step closer to realizing
the historic Fortuna FLNG project. The participation of Equatorial
Guinea's national companies was critical to Fortuna's success and
to maximizing the project's value at every level of the gas supply
chain. The Fortuna Project targets becoming the first choice
supplier of LNG for the Gulf of Guinea region."
Nick Cooper, Chief Executive of Ophir, commented: "The Umbrella
Agreement is the important foundation agreement which formalises
the value chain economics for the Government of Equatorial Guinea
and the project participants. We welcome the introduction of
Equatorial Guinea's national companies as project partners and the
alignment of interests that this brings.
The remaining milestones of the construction contract awards,
the finalisation of debt and the LNG offtake are as advanced as we
had wanted them to be at this stage. The Fortuna FLNG Project
therefore remains firmly on schedule for an FID by mid-year."
Jeff Goodrich, CEO of OneLNG commented: "Signing of the Umbrella
Agreement is a significant milestone. It represents an innovative
way of doing business, brings alignment throughout the entire value
chain to all of the Project Stakeholders, and provides clear line
of sight to FID for the project. The Fortuna project remains on
track to become the Africa's first deepwater FLNG project."
This announcement has been determined to contain inside
information.
For further enquiries please contact:
Ophir Energy plc
Nick Cooper, CEO
Tony Rouse, CFO
Geoff Callow, Head of IR and + 44 (0) 20 7811
Corporate Communications 2400
OneLNG
Stuart Buchanan, Head of Investor
Relations +44 (0)20 7063 7900
Brunswick (PR Adviser to Ophir)
Patrick Handley
Wendel Verbeek +44 (0)20 7404 5959
About the Umbrella Agreement:
As previously communicated, final State Approval of the overall
project, including the Umbrella Agreement, is the final milestone
at FID.
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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