Mid-sized European Oil Firms Face Tough Choices
Small and medium-sized oil companies, squeezed by the oil price slump, may have to raise expensive new finance, sell assets or seek new investors to plug any funding gaps as banks tighten up on lending. Many of these companies have already cut spending and axed thousands of jobs following a more than halving in the oil price to around $50 a barrel since June last year.
Afrens Putting Company into Administration
Oil producer Afren Plc said its board has decided to put the company into administration after failing to secure support for a refinancing and restructuring plan. Afren, whose shares have been suspended since July 15, said talks with bondholders, banks and its partners were scuppered after the company cut its production forecast for the year.
Afren Ends Sale Talks with Seplat Petroleum
Oil producer Afren Plc said it had ended talks with Nigeria's Seplat Petroleum Development Co Plc over a potential sale of the company. Afren said it would not agree to Seplat's request to extend from Friday the deadline to make a firm offer for the company. Afren is still in talks with creditors for its immediate funding needs, it said.
Britain's FTSE Bolstered as BP Rises
Britain's top share index rose towards a 4-1/2 month high on Tuesday, boosted by energy stocks as BP's results beat earnings expectations. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended up 1.3 percent at 6,871.80 points, near its highest level since September 2014. Intertek, whose services include testing products to make sure they comply with safety standards…
Afren Gets a Months Grace for $65m in Debt Payments
Oil producer Afren Plc, struggling with looming debt payments, said lenders had agreed to defer a $50 million amortisation payment by a month and that it would delay the payment of a $15 million bond coupon by a month. Afren, which had about $1.15 billion in gross debt as of September last year, said on Friday that…
Afren Reviews 2015 Capex, Seeks to Amend Credit Facilities
Oil producer Afren Plc is reviewing its capital expenditure budget and talking with lenders to amend credit facilities and defer a $50 million amortisation payment, due to the slump in oil prices. The company also said it was continuing merger talks with Nigeria's Seplat Petroleum Development Co Plc, which had won an extension till Jan. 30 to announce if it intended to make a firm offer.
Nigeria's Seplat Wins Deadline Extension for Afren Takeover
Nigeria's Seplat Petroleum Development Company has won an extension to a deadline for announcing whether it intends to make a firm offer for oil producer Afren, the London-listed firm said on Monday. Seplat confirmed earlier this month that it had made a preliminary approach to take over Afren and that it faced a Jan. 19 deadline to firm up the deal.
Seplat Confirms Interest in Afren
Seplat Petroleum Development Co Plc confirmed that it was interested in British oil producer Afren Plc. Seplat said it could not provide more details as the approach was preliminary. Afren first disclosed in December that the Nigerian oil and gas explorer had made a bid to acquire it. Seplat has until Jan. 19 to make a firm offer.
UK's Gulf Keystone Petroleum Postpones Interim Statement
British oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd said it had delayed the release of its interim management statement to Nov. 13 as it was in talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. Gulf Keystone returned its staff to the violence-hit Iraqi Kurdistan region earlier this month after evacuating them in August.
Afren Sacks CEO, 3 Other Execs
Shares in the company rose as much as 6.6 percent on Tuesday morning, which an analyst said was mainly on the conclusion of the review and that the incidents would not affect Afren's operations. The probe also found that seven more current and former employees also received payments and Afren said it had begun disciplinary action against these employees.
Ivory Coast Seeks Deepwater Oil Investors
Ivory Coast will seek investors in its available offshore oil acreage, including seven new ultra-deep water blocks in the Gulf of Guinea, at a promotional event in Texas next week, a senior oil ministry official said on Tuesday. The West African nation will target companies including Exxon Mobil, Total, Eni, Anadarko Petroleum…
Oil company Afren Suspends Associate Directors
Oil company Afren Plc said its board suspended associate directors Iain Wright and Galib Virani from the company for receiving unauthorised payments. Shares in the FTSE-250 company fell as much as 4 percent to 106.1 pence on the London Stock Exchange. Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar
US Oil Producer Suspends Iraqi Kurdistan Operations
U.S. oil producer Hess Corp has suspended oil-drilling operations in Iraqi Kurdistan and started to evacuate non-essential staff amid spreading violence in the region, its minority partner Petroceltic said. "It has been decided, as a precautionary measure, to temporarily secure and suspend operations, including the drilling of Shireen-1 exploration well in the Dinarta licence…
Oil Production gets Disrupted in Iraqi Kurdistan
Oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan began withdrawing more staff on Friday in the siege of militants from the Islamic State to the capital of the region, with Afren became the first to announce that he was reducing their production. Shares in London-listed oil and operating in northern Iraq fell for a second day because…
Militant Advance Disrupts Kurdistan Production
Oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan began to withdraw more staff on Friday as Islamic State militants closed in on the regional capital, with Afren becoming the first to announce it was cutting production. Shares of London-listed oil firms active in northern Iraq fell for a second day as other field closures and staff…
Africa Oil Prospectors Afren Suspend CEO, COO
London-listed oil explorer Afren Plc said its board had temporarily suspended Chief Executive Osman Shahenshah and Chief Operating Officer Shahid Ullah pending an investigation into payments, sending its shares to their lowest level in more than two years. The Nigeria-focused company said in a statement on the London…