Oil & Gas Corporate News
Hardy Oil & Gas (LON:HDY) (BUY,£3.00) (HDY, 213p, ? (5.44%)) has entered into a conditional share purchase agreement for the disposal of its wholly owned Nigerian business. The disposal is being undertaken by way of the sale of Hardy's entire investment in Hardy Oil (Africa) Limited for cash consideration of US$4,550,001 to Inergia Petroleum Limited ("IPL"), a newly incorporated upstream energy company focused on Nigeria. HOA's wholly owned subsidiary, Hardy Oil Nigeria Limited ("HON"), has a 20% interest in each of the Oza and Atala marginal fields in Nigeria. The Oza Field is located on-land in the north western part of OML 11, near Port Harcourt, with three suspended wells in the field and a concession area of 20km2. The Atala Field is located within OML 46, which is situated within a mangrove swamp on the Dodo River, a coastal area of Bayelsa State with a concession area of 34 km2. HON has a project office located in Lagos Nigeria with 11 employees most of whom are anticipated to remain with the Nigerian operations. During 2009, HOA incurred a loss of US$0.74m (2008: US$0.50m) principally resulting from ongoing general and administrative and financing charges. As at 31 December 2009, HOA's gross assets were approximately US$4.4m (2008: US$4.2m). Completion is conditional on the approval of Hardy shareholders and is anticipated to occur immediately following shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. The sale of HOA is in line with the Company's stated strategy of focusing time and resources on developing its business in India, where it has a high impact exploration portfolio, valuable experience and strong relationships. The Board initiated the sale process in July 2010 and provided an independent and experienced consultant with a formal mandate to manage the sale process. A sales memorandum was circulated to a number of potential purchasers and as of 20 September 2010, the Company had received IPL's offer and has executed the agreement with IPL. Completion of the Disposal is anticipated before the end of October 2010.
Comment: Not unexpected and good news, the disposal is not material in itself but will enable management to focus purely on the Indian operations.
Cairn Energy Plc (LON:CNE) (CNE, 426.8p, ? (0.37%)) announced that the multiple-objective Alpha-1S1 well…
