Egdon Resources (LON:EDR)
Egdon Resources (EDR LN) has announced a further farm out of 5% on the PEDL253 property which includes the Biscathorpe Prospect in Lincolnshire. The transaction is on the same terms as the previously announced farm outs and Humber Oil and Gas Limited (Private) will acquire 5% of EDR’s interest by paying the pro rata cost of the Biscathorpe-2 well cost plus an additional £50k (£10k per percentage point). Humber will also acquire 5% from Montrose Industries Limited (Private). The transaction is subject to approval from the Oil and Gas Authority and EDR will retain a 35.8% in the license once completed.
We reiterate our Buy recommendation and 48.5p target price.
Independent Oil & Gas (LON:IOG)
Independent Oil & Gas (IOG LN) announced full year results which showed a loss of £2.75m compared to a loss of £21.4m in 2016. Excluding impairments on oil and gas properties the operating loss was broadly in line YoY at £798k in 2017 versus £525k in the prior period. Finance expenses increased from £899k in 2016 to £1.8m in 2017. IOG reported a year end cash position of £145k, however, we note that in February 2018 the company announced the provision of a new convertible loan of £10m by London Oil & Gas (LOG) which we believe will mean that IOG has sufficient liquidity until Final Investment Decision for the Southern North Sea gas project which is due in August 2018.
IOG has made significant progress in 2017 towards the development of its Southern North Sea gas project. During the year IOG announced significant upgrades to its Reserves at the Vulcan Satellites, Blythe and Elgood along with a CPR confirming the potential at Harvey. The company subsequently committed to an appraisal well at Harvey which could provide further upside to the strong project economics of the core hub. The hub strategy is made possible by the acquisition of the Thames Pipeline which was agreed in April 2017. It provides a secure export route for gas produced from IOG’s licenses whilst saving the company significant development capital.
This year will centre around the Final Investment Decision which is expected in August 2018. Key milestones will include demonstrating the viability of the Thames Pipeline following an intelligent pigging programme and delivering an appropriate capital structure to finance construction. We expect this to incorporate debt and equity as well as gas offtake and contractor finance. Given the achievements of 2017 we believe that IOG is well placed for an important year ahead.
We reiterate our Buy recommendation and 72p target price.
To read our recent report on IOG, please click here.