Tullow Oil PLC (LON:TLW) revealed this week that it has struck a cash deal to sell its entire Uganda business to Total for US$575mln, which is close to 150% of the London-listed firm’s market value.
It is a significant boon to Tullow’s liquidity with Total set to pay US$500mln of cash on completion, and, remainder coming at Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Lake Albert field development project.
The deal is the first transaction in a portfolio management programme that aims to extract over US$1bn, Tullow said. The oiler told investors it intends to use proceeds to pay down debt and strengthen its balance sheet.
On Friday, SDX Energy PLC (LON:SDX) shares rose as the group confirmed successful well testing results at the recently drilled SD-12X (Sobhi) well, at the South Disouq project in Egypt.
Sobhi flowed at a maximum rate of 25mln cubic feet of gas per day (on a 54/64" choke), in an initial one hour test, followed by stable rate of 15mln cubic feet per day over three hours (on a 28/64" choke) and 10mln over four hours (on 16/64").
The company said that following a review of data it anticipates the well will produce at an optimum stabilised rate of 10-12mln cubic feet per day.
"We are pleased with these initial well test results which confirm that we have a commercial discovery at the Sobhi well,” Mark Reid, SDX chief executive said in a statement.
Trinity Exploration & Production PLC (LON:TRIN) in a quarterly update this week described its performance as “pleasing” given the challenging market backdrop.
Production in the three months ended 31 March averaged 3,291 barrels of oil per day, up 9% versus the same period in 2019 and up 3% on the preceding quarter.
"Our performance during the period, given the extremely challenging backdrop, was pleasing as we grew production and cash while reducing our already low operating breakeven,” said Bruce Dingwall, executive chairman.
“The strength of our operations and balance sheet ensure that we remain well placed despite the current oil price environment,” he added.
88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) gave investors more details on the Charlie-1 well project in Alaska, which previously failed in its primary target but encountered multiple secondary hydrocarbon targets.
The latest findings, from preliminary petrophysical interpretation, indicates hydrocarbon pay in Torok and Seabee formations, with more than 280 feet of net pay is interpreted in the Seabee Torok and Kuparuk formations, which compares favourably to pre-drill expectations, the company said.
Whilst noting that this well’s position is sub-optimal for these secondary targets, 88 Energy pointed out that that the Lima prospects in the Seabee formation are of particular interest to the company.
In a statement, 88's managing director Dave Wall described the latest findings as “encouraging”, particularly in relation to Seabee.