LNG Energy Group Corp. (TSXV: LNGE) (TSXV: LNGE.WT) (OTCQB: LNGNF)
(FWB: E26) (the “
Company” or “
LNG Energy
Group”) is pleased to announce a private placement
of senior secured convertible debentures in the amount of up to
U.S.$15 million (“
Private Placement”) in order to
drill two development wells, two to three exploration wells and
conduct an active workover and stimulation campaign in Colombia.
The Private Placement is undertaken in the
context of a broader strategic review process the Company is
conducting with the authorization of its Board of Directors, to
explore and evaluate a range of potential alternatives for the
Company to maximize shareholder value, with the assistance of ECM
Capital Advisors, Eight Capital and Haywood Securities Inc. The
potential initiatives may include, but are not limited to
financings, corporate reorganization, strategic partnerships,
acquisitions, divestitures and/or farm-outs, sale, and other forms
of business combination.
Pablo Navarro, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of LNG Energy Group commented, “It has been a challenging
year. Many issues have arisen with which we are dealing. Changes
are being made and solutions are being implemented. Bottom line,
the asset base is exceptional, and the future is bright. The
turnaround is working, and we will work relentlessly to catapult
the trajectory of the Company through a series of strategic
initiatives that should ultimately contribute to meeting Colombia’s
need for natural gas.”
Strategic Initiatives
Drilling Campaign
Upon a successful Private Placement, farm-out
and/or JV Contribution (as defined herein), the Company will
commence a drilling and recompletion campaign in Colombia.
Chemical Stimulations
The Company completed successfully the workover
of the BN-1 well consisting of a chemical stimulation that
increased the well’s production by approximately 3x, offsetting
losses caused by the presence of asphaltenes, fines and residues
from drilling fluids.
Prior to the stimulation, the well was producing
at an average production of approximately 112 Mcf/d with a WHP of
72 psi on a 36/64” choke. Initial results of the stimulation showed
an immediate production increase to 822 Mcf/d with a WHP of 328 psi
on a 26/64” choke. The well is currently producing 350 Mcf/d with
114 psi in WHP and on a 22/64” choke.
The Company intends to apply this technology to
several other wells that also experienced a production decline due
to the same root causes.
Costs Optimization
In order to reduce costs, the Company has
implemented a corporate reorganization initiative which is expected
to result in savings of approximately $1.5 to $2.0 million per
annum. The Company continues to review ways to optimize its
business and operations, including strategic partnerships with
vendors, and rationalization of suppliers, inventory optimization,
and adjusting the organizational structure of the Company to the
current production context.
Capital Strengthening
The Company is in the process of farming out a
part of its participating interest in the VIM-41 Block located
onshore Colombia and pursuing a well development financing (the
“JV Contribution”) to raise capital to initiate
the drilling of the B5 well located onshore Colombia. Furthermore,
the Company intends to review options to optimize cash flow
available for drilling vis a vis its financial obligations.
Secured Convertible Debenture
Financing
In conjunction with its near-term development
plans, the Company is pleased to announce that it has entered into
an agreement with Eight Capital, as lead agent and bookrunner, on
behalf of a syndicate of agents including Eight Capital, Haywood
Securities Inc. and ECM Capital Advisors, (together, the
“Agents”) pursuant to which the Company has
launched a proposed Private Placement on a “best efforts” agency
basis in the aggregate principal amount of up to U.S.$15 million
(the “Offering”) senior secured convertible
debentures (the “Convertible Debentures”) to
eligible investors.
The terms and any applicable conditions
precedent for the Convertible Debentures will be defined within the
context of the market and should present a competitive opportunity
for investors while unlocking shareholder value.
Upon closing of the Offering, the Company will
pay to the Agents a cash commission equal to 6% of the gross
proceeds of the Offering. The Company is entitled to a President’s
List in the amount of up to U.S.$2 million pursuant to which no
fees shall be paid to the Agents.
The net proceeds of the Offering will be
primarily used for the Company’s next phase of drilling, workover
and stimulation activities as well as for general working capital
purposes.
The Company expects that insiders and current
stakeholders will participate in the Offering and, to date, has
received interest from potential investors in the Offering.
The insiders' participation in the Offering
constitutes a “related party transaction” as defined under
Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security
Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”).
Such participation is exempt from the formal valuation and minority
shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as neither the fair
market value of the securities anticipated to be acquired by
insiders, nor the consideration for the securities paid by such
insiders, exceed 25% of the Company’s market capitalization. As the
specific participation of each related party that the Company
expects will participate in the Offering has not been confirmed as
of the date of this news release, additional information required
under MI 61-101 will be provided in the Company’s material change
report with respect to the Offering, including a description of the
interest of all related parties in the Offering, and where
applicable, a description of the effect on the percentage of the
securities of the Company held by related parties
participating.
The securities being offered have not, nor will
they be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States
or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons in the
absence of U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the
U.S. registration requirements. This mews release does not
constitute an offer for sale of securities in the United States.
The Offering is scheduled to close at a date the Company and the
Agents deem appropriate and is subject to certain conditions
including, but not limited to, the execution of an agency agreement
and the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals
including that of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities (and
underlying securities) issued in connection with the Offering will
be subject to a hold period of four months plus a day from the date
of issuance in accordance with applicable securities
legislation.
Other Initiatives
The Board of Directors, in consultation with its
legal and business advisors, are actively considering other
initiatives to enhance shareholder value. The Company may initiate
a share consolidation or other capital reorganizations. Certain of
the foregoing initiatives may require approval from the Company’s
senior lenders.
Existing Asset Base
The Company’s current assets consist of the
following:
Country |
Asset |
Value (U.S.$MMs) |
Value Per Share (C$)(1) |
Colombia |
Oil and Gas(2) |
$171 |
$1.55 |
Colombia |
Rigs |
$8 |
$0.07 |
Venezuela |
CPPs(3) |
$261 |
$2.37 |
Totals |
$440 |
$3.99 |
(1) Based upon a U.S.$ to C$ exchange rate of
1.00 : 1.41.(2) Calculated by dividing the Before-Tax NPV10 value
of the Proved reserves as at December 31, 2023 by 155,534,426
common shares issued and outstanding as at December 31, 2023 and
using a U.S.$:C$ exchange rate of $1.41. The per share valuation
excludes the value of the Company’s non-oil and gas assets and net
indebtedness.(3) Calculated by dividing the Before-Tax NPV10 value
of the Proved reserves as at October 29, 2024 by 155,534,426 common
shares issued and outstanding as at October 29, 2024 and using a
U.S.$:C$ exchange rate of $1.41. Please see the Company’s news
release dated November 25, 2024 for more information. The per share
valuation excludes the value of the Company’s non-oil and gas
assets and net indebtedness.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation
Services Provider accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news release.
About LNG Energy Group
The Company is focused on the acquisition and
development of natural gas production and exploration assets in
Latin America. For more information, please visit
www.lngenergygroup.com.
For more information please contact:
Angel Roa, Chief Financial OfficerLNG Energy
Group Corp.Website: www.lngenergygroup.comEmail:
investor.relations@lngenergygroup.com
Find us on social media:LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/lng-energy-group-inc/Instagram:
@lngenergygroup X: @LNGEnergyCorp
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This news release contains “forward-looking
information” and “forward-looking statements” (collectively,
“forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable
Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of
historical fact are forward-looking statements, and are based on
expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news
release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to
predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives,
assumptions, future events or performance, often using phrases such
as “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “budget”, “scheduled”,
“forecasts”, “estimates”, “believes” or “intends”, or variations of
such words and phrases, or stating that certain actions, events or
results “may” or “could”, “would”, “should”, “might” or “will” be
taken to occur or be achieved, are not statements of historical
fact and may be forward-looking statements.
Specifically, this news release includes, but is
not limited to, forward-looking statements relating to: the
Company’s business plans, strategies, priorities and development
plans, including the strategic initiatives being considered by the
Company and the corporate reorganization and anticipated annual
savings therefrom; the application of the stimulation technology
used for the BN-1 well workover on other wells of the Company; the
anticipated benefits of the completion of various strategic
initiatives being considered by the Company; the completion of the
JV Contribution and completion of other options to optimize cash
flow; the ability of the Company to book additional reserves in the
future; the completion of the Offering; receipt of all regulatory
approvals, including the approval of the TSXV, in connection with
the Offering; the anticipated insider participation in the
Offering; and the anticipated use of proceeds from the Offering.
The Company’s actual decisions, activities, results, performance,
or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or
implied by, such forward-looking statements and accordingly, no
assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the
forward-looking statements will transpire or occur or, if any of
them do, what benefits that the Company will derive from them.
Information and statements relating to reserves
are by their nature forward-looking statements as they involve the
implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions,
that the reserves described exist in the quantities predicted or
estimated, and can be profitably produced in the future. The
recovery and reserve estimates of the Company’s reserves provided
herein are estimates only, and there is no guarantee that the
estimated reserves will be recovered. Consequently, actual results
may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking
statements (see the other advisories contained in this news
release).
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based
upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered
reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors which may cause actual results and future events
to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include: the Company's
ability to complete the Offering on the terms described herein or
at all or to access sufficient capital from internal and external
sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on
favourable terms; and the delay or failure to receive regulatory or
other approvals, including any approvals of the TSXV and the
Company’s senior lenders, for the Offering; general business,
economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; risks
related to the Company’s ability to complete any of the proposed
strategic initiatives described in this news release on the terms
described herein or at all; risks related to commodity prices;
delay or failure to receive any necessary board, shareholder or
regulatory approvals, factors may occur which impede or prevent LNG
Energy Group’s future business plans; and other factors beyond the
control of LNG Energy Group. The intended use of the proceeds of
the Offering by the Company might change if the Board of Directors
of the Company determines that it would be in the best interests of
LNG Energy Group. There can be no assurance that such statements
will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events
could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Except
as required by law, LNG Energy Group assumes no obligation to
update the forward-looking statements, whether they change as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CPPs
Please see the Company’s news releases dated
April 24, 2024 and October 21, 2024 for additional information with
respect to the CPPs. There can be no guarantee that the Company or
LNG Venezuela shall be able to complete the acquisition terms
required by PPSA.
The CPPs were executed within the term of
General License 44 issued by OFAC. The Company intends to operate
in full compliance with the applicable U.S. economic sanctions
laws.
Advisory Note Regarding Oil and Gas
Information
The reserves information contained in this news
release has been prepared in accordance with NI 51-101, but only
presents a portion of the disclosure required thereunder. Complete
reserves disclosure required in accordance with NI 51-101 in
respect of the Company’s Colombian assets for the year ended
December 31, 2023 is available in the AIF. Complete reserves
disclosure required in accordance with NI 51-101 in respect of the
Company’s Venezuelan assets will be available on SEDAR+
at www.sedarplus.ca concurrently with or before the
filing of the Company’s financial statements for the year ended
December 31, 2024. Actual oil and natural gas reserves and
future production may be greater than or less than the estimates
provided in this news release. There is no assurance that forecast
prices and costs assumed in the reserves reports referred to in
this news release and presented in this news release, will be
attained and variances from such forecast prices and costs could be
material. The estimated future net revenue from the production of
the disclosed oil and natural gas reserves in this news release
does not represent the fair market value of these reserves.
The estimates of reserves and future net revenue
for individual properties may not reflect the same confidence level
as estimates of reserves and future net revenue for all properties,
due to the effects of aggregation.
There are numerous uncertainties inherent in
estimating quantities of crude oil, reserves and the future cash
flows attributed to such reserves. The reserve and associated cash
flow information set forth above are estimates only. In general,
estimates of economically recoverable crude oil and natural gas
reserves and the future net cash flows therefrom are based upon a
number of variable factors and assumptions, such as historical
production from the properties, production rates, ultimate reserve
recovery, timing and amount of capital expenditures, marketability
of oil and natural gas, royalty rates, the assumed effects of
regulation by governmental agencies and future operating costs, all
of which may vary materially. For those reasons, estimates of the
economically recoverable crude oil and natural gas reserves
attributable to any particular group of properties, classification
of such reserves based on risk of recovery and estimates of future
net revenues associated with reserves prepared by different
engineers, or by the same engineers at different times, may
vary.
The Company’s actual production, revenues, taxes
and development and operating expenditures with respect to its
reserves will vary from estimates thereof and such variations could
be material. All evaluations and reviews of future net revenue are
stated prior to any provisions for interest costs or general and
administrative costs and after the deduction of estimated future
capital expenditures for wells to which reserves have been
assigned. The tax calculations used in the preparation of the
reserves reports referred to in this news release are done at the
field level in accordance with standard practice, and do not
reflect the actual tax position at the corporate level which may be
significantly different.
Definitions: |
1P |
Proved reserves |
Mcf |
Thousand cubic feet |
Mcf/d |
Thousand cubic feet per day |
NPV10 |
net present value using a 10% discount rate |
“Proved” reserves are those
reserves that can be estimated with a high degree of certainty to
be recoverable. It is likely that the actual remaining quantities
recovered will exceed the estimated proved reserves. There is a 90
percent probability that the quantities actually recovered will
equal or exceed the sum of proved reserves.
Light crude oil is crude oil with a relative
density greater than 31.1 degrees API gravity, medium crude oil is
crude oil with a relative density greater than 22.3 degrees API
gravity and less than or equal to 31.1 degrees API gravity, and
heavy crude oil is crude oil with a relative density greater than
10 degrees API gravity and less than or equal to 22.3 degrees API
gravity.
1 Reserves included herein are stated on a
company gross basis (working interest before deduction of royalties
without including any royalty interests). Information presented
herein in respect of reserves and related information in respect of
the Company’s Colombian assets is based on the Company’s
independent reserves evaluation for the year ended December 31,
2023 prepared by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, details of which were
provided in the Company’s annual information form dated May 31,
2024 for the year ended December 31, 2023 (the
“AIF”).2 Reserves included herein are stated on a
company gross basis (working interest before deduction of royalties
without including any royalty interests). Information presented
herein in respect of reserves and related information in respect of
the Company’s Venezuela assets is based on the Company’s
independent reserves evaluation dated October 28, 2024, with an
effective date of April 30, 2024 prepared by Petrotech Engineering
Ltd., details of which were provided in our press release issued on
November 25, 2024.
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