Angus Energy plc will refinance its existing debt and further onshore oil and gas operations after signing a £20 million loan with a subsidiary of Trafigura Group PTE Ltd.
USES
The definitive documentation to draw down in full on the facility is based on terms agreed at the end of 2023.
These include transfer of the existing senior debt of £4.56m to Trafigura, repayment of the £6m bridge facility, and a deferred £1.75m of Forum Energy‘s sale of Saltfleetby Energy Ltd’s 49% interest in the Saltfleetby field to Angus in 2022.
The sum owed to Forum is now reduced to £2.88m which will be paid in new instalments, plus interest, until June 2025 subject to shareholder approval.
The balance of Trafigura’s five-year facility will pay legacy creditors and invest in wells and equipment to increase production from Saltfleetby in east Lincolnshire and progress the Brockham field in Surrey.
Angus will acquire a booster compressor for installation in Q4 2024 to allow wells to be produced to their abandonment pressure to maximise recovery from Saltfleetby.
Critical spare components will also be purchased and a noise suppression system for the compressors on site.
Funds will go towards the planning process and to buy essential long lead items for a fourth production well or sidetrack in 2025 to increase production and accelerate reservoir depletion.
BROCKHAM
Trafigura’s loan will also be used to restart oil production from the Brockham field within PL235.
During the Q2, Angus will begin a tubing-replacement workover and repairs to the downhole pump in the Brockham-1X well.
If successful, the company will reperforate the Brockham-4X well, currently completed in the Kimmeridge zone, in the main Portland reservoir to increase production.
Angus is also awaiting confirmation that it allowed to conduct a long-term test of the Balcombe-2Z well on PEDL244 in Sussex.
Chief executive Richard Herbert added: “We are very pleased to have closed the new facility with Trafigura and now have a new level of financial stability which allows us to plan for the future and to maximise the value of our assets for the benefit of all our shareholders.
“With current high oil prices, we are excited to be restarting production from the Brockham field in the coming months, and we are hopeful that we will be able to proceed with the long-term test on the Balcombe well this year.
“Trafigura has demonstrated a strong commitment to its new relationship with Angus and we intend to work together to evaluate the potential for gas storage at the Saltfleetby site and other potential projects in the future. “