The information contained within
this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as
stipulated under the retained EU law version of the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the "UK MAR") which is part of UK law by
virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The
information is disclosed in accordance with the Company's
obligations under Article 17 of the UK MAR. Upon the publication of
this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be
in the public domain.
Caspian Sunrise
PLC
("Caspian Sunrise" or the
"Company" and together with its subsidiaries, the
"Group")
Update on the acquisition of
the West Shalva Contract Area
Introduction
Further to the RNS dated 8 April
2024, the board of Caspian Sunrise (the "Board") is pleased to announce that the
change of control consent required for the completion of the
acquisition of CS Energy LLP, the Kazakh registered company which
holds the licence for the West Shalva contract area (the
"Acquisition") has been
granted by the Kazakh authorities.
Accordingly, the Company is moving
ahead to complete the Acquisition on the terms previously announced
and summarised below.
Background
The West Shalva contract area
extends over 24.89km2 and is located 20km
north of the Zhetybai oil field and 6km north of the Shalva oil
discovery ("West Shalva Contract
Area").
The local infrastructure includes a
railway station, paved roads, electricity, water supply, and a mini
refinery all within 20km of the West Shalva contract
area.
The West Shalva structure was
identified in Soviet times by 2D seismic data. Subsequently, 3D
seismic data was acquired which identified West Shalva as a faulted
anticline. At that time the adjacent Shalva structure was drilled
and found oil from Jurassic
sandstones.
In order to assess the potential of
the West Shalva Contract Area, the Company is preparing to drill an
initial exploratory well in Q1 2025 with a Total Depth of 2,600
meters from which, if successful, production is expected to
start in Q2 2025. This well would fulfil the existing work
programme obligations under the current licence.
The Directors believe that drilling
at West Shalva Contract Area will be far less challenging than at
either BNG or Block 8 as at West Shalva wells will be drilled to
shallower depths and without the extreme temperatures and pressures
encountered at the deep structures at BNG and Block 8. The
Directors therefore believe acquiring the West Shalva Contract Area
adds a lower risk asset to the Group's portfolio.
Acquisition terms
At a general meeting of the Company
on 26 April 2024, independent Caspian Sunrise shareholders approved
the following acquisition terms:
·
On Completion 99,206,349 new ordinary shares will
be issued to the vendor at 4p per share.
·
On first oil from the West Shalva Contract Area a
further 99,206,349 new ordinary shares would be issued to the
vendor at 4p per share
·
Additionally, the first $5 million revenues from
oil sales from the West Shalva Contract Area under the Group's
ownership would be paid to the vendor.
Concert Party Shareholdings
The Company currently has
2,254,978,483 shares in issue, with the existing concert party
("Concert Party")
holding 1,091,189,529 shares representing 48.39% of the shares currently in
issue.
The CS Energy LLP vendor is Altynbek
Bolatzhan, a member of the Concert Party, who currently holds
26,851,612 shares representing 1.19% of the shares currently in
issue.
On Completion his shareholding would
increase to 126,057,961 shares representing 5.35% of the shares
then in issue and on first oil from the West Shalva Contract Area
his shareholding would further increase to 225,264,310 shares
representing 9.18% of the shares then in issue.
On Completion the Concert Party's
shareholding would increase to 1,190,395,878 shares representing
50.57% of the shares then in issue and on first oil from the West
Shalva Contract Area under the Group's ownership would further
increase to 1,289,602,227 shares representing 52.56% of the shares
then in issue.
Further announcements regarding
formal completion of the Acquisition and the issue of the
consideration shares will be made in due course.
Comment
Clive Carver, Chairman
said
"West Shalva will be a welcome addition to the Group's assets
and should allow the continuity of production following the
proposed sale of the producing shallow MJF and South Yelemes
structures on the BNG Contract Area."
Contacts:
|
Zeus
James Joyce
|
+44 (0)
203 829 5000
|
James Bavister
Andrew de Andrade
Qualified person
Mr. Assylbek Umbetov, a
member of the Association of Petroleum Engineers, has reviewed
and approved the technical disclosures in this
announcement.
The person responsible for arranging
the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Clive
Carver, Chairman of the Company.
This announcement has been posted
to:
www.caspiansunrise.com/investors