Africa Oil, Denovo to Close Transaction in Few Weeks

- Africa Oil, Denovo to Close Transaction in Few Weeks

Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Africa Oil Corp.

Africa Oil provided an update to its previously announced proposed transaction with Denovo Capital whereby Denovo will acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Canmex Holdings (Bermuda) I Ltd., Africa Oil's wholly-owned subsidiary.

The TSX Venture Exchange approved the filing of Denovo's filing statement dated August 29, 2011 relating to the Transaction and the Filing Statement was filed on SEDAR on September 1, 2011. Denovo has made its initial submission to the Exchange but has not received conditional approval of the Transaction. Africa Oil and Denovo expect to be in a position to close the Transaction in the next few weeks.

Following the completion of the Transaction, Denovo will, among other things, have consolidated its issued and outstanding common shares on the basis of one post-consolidation common share for every 0.65 pre-consolidation common shares, continued into the Province of British Columbia under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) and changed its name to "Horn Petroleum Corporation". For further information regarding the Transaction, please see Denovo's press release dated August 11, 2011.

In connection with the Transaction, Africa Oil announced the results of an independent evaluation of the prospective resources held by Canmex in the Dharoor Valley and Nugaal Valley Blocks in Puntland (Somalia) ("Resource Report"). The Resource Report, effective June 30, 2011, was prepared for Denovo by Petrotech Engineering Ltd. ("Petrotech") and in accordance with the current guidelines outlined in the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook and National Instrument 51-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities. A copy of the Resource Report may also be found under Denovo's profile on SEDAR.

The Resource Report indicates that gross best estimate prospective resource in the Dharoor Valley and Nugaal Valley Blocks, including both prospects and leads, are in excess of 5.2 billion barrels of oil. A summary of Canmex's gross and net share of the unrisked prospective resources (prospects) and the net present values from the profit oil revenue less the un-recoverable amount of funds from the production operation; discounted at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% before and after income tax are presented in the table below. The net cash flow is calculated at forecast prices and escalated costs on the prospective resources, to all future time and after deduction of the capital costs, royalties and before and after deduction of income tax. All cash flow data is in U.S. dollars.

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Pemex Secures Close to 10% Stake in Repsol

- Pemex Secures Close to 10% Stake in Repsol

Friday, September 02, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
MADRID
by Ilan Brat

Repsol said Friday that Mexico's state-owned oil company has purchased an additional 4.62% stake in the company.

The purchase nearly doubles Petroleos Mexicanos SA's ownership in Repsol to around 9.4%, and comes as Pemex carries out an agreement with fellow Repsol shareholder Sacyr Vallehermoso to vote together in an attempt to exert more control over the Spanish oil firm's board.

The purchase of 56.4 million shares would be worth EUR1.12 billion at Repsol's closing price of EUR19.8 on Friday.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Magnum Hunter: Proposed Acquisition in Williston Basin Did Not Close

- Magnum Hunter: Proposed Acquisition in Williston Basin Did Not Close

Friday, August 19, 2011
Magnum Hunter Resources Corp.

Magnum Hunter announced that the previously announced proposed acquisition by its wholly owned subsidiary, Williston Hunter ND, LLC, of oil and gas properties in the Williston Basin in North Dakota from Eagle Operating, Inc. ("Eagle") did not close yesterday due to unresolved issues between the parties resulting from what Magnum Hunter considers to be Eagle's intentional and bad faith breach of its obligations under the Purchase and Sale Agreement ("PSA"). In the proposed acquisition, Magnum Hunter would have acquired from Eagle for total consideration of $57 million ($55 million in cash and $2 million in Magnum Hunter restricted common stock), the remaining approximate 48% working ownership interest in the Williston Basin properties owned by Eagle, subject to Eagle's retention of a variable overriding royalty interest not exceeding 2% on certain properties.

The acquisition would also have resulted in the settlement of two pending lawsuits between the Company and Eagle currently filed in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota (Northwestern Division), which litigation is now expected to continue. Management of Magnum Hunter does not consider this pending litigation to be of any material nature to the Company.

Magnum Hunter has today filed a new lawsuit against Eagle in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota (Northwestern Division) asking the court to order Eagle to comply with its obligations under the PSA and complete the sale of the properties to the Company on the specific terms outlined in the PSA. Magnum Hunter is also seeking monetary damages, including compensatory, consequential and general damages, for Eagle's material default under the PSA. The Company intends to vigorously pursue all available remedies against Eagle.

As of August 18, 2011, Magnum Hunter had total liquidity including cash and availability under its various credit facilities of approximately $75 million, of which approximately $55 million is currently available to continue to fund its upstream capital program focused on the Company's high growth unconventional resource plays. In addition, Magnum Hunter has a commitment from its bank group to provide an additional $42.5 million in borrowing capacity for the purchase of the Eagle properties referenced above. Moreover, Magnum Hunter continues to pursue various non-dilutive alternatives to provide access to capital in order to fund capital budget needs later in fiscal year 2012.

Additional information regarding the Company's lawsuit against Eagle, including a copy of the complaint filed by the Company Friday in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota (Northwestern Division), is contained in a Report on Form 8-K also filed today by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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A Close Bond Built on Friendship - And Oil

- A Close Bond Built on Friendship - And Oil

Thursday, July 14, 2011
The Washington Post
by Juan Forero;Adam Liebendorfer

Something wasn't quite right, Hugo Chavez recounted. And the Venezuelan president's mentor, 84-year-old Fidel Castro, noticed straight away.

"What's wrong with you?" Castro asked. The Cuban leader urged Chavez to stand up and looked him over with what the Venezuelan populist called Castro's "eagle eyes." "Where's the pain?"

Castro then "began to question me, like a father questions a son," Chavez said in his account of their meeting in Havana last month; he said he "confessed" his ailments as if he were Castro's patient.

At the Cuban revolutionary's insistence, Chavez then went under the scalpel to remove a malignant tumor. Later, Castro brought peanut butter he himself had made and gabbed with a recovering Chavez about world affairs. "Fidel is like a saint," Chavez told Cuban state television.

The outsize role that Castro has played in Chavez's ordeal with cancer has brought into sharp relief not only the personal, even paternal nature of their relationship, but also how vital Chavez's health is to Cuba's archaic communist system.

The links the two leaders have forged are based on heartfelt kinship, Chavez's government says. But the Cubans also have a lot riding on Chavez, who on Wednesday announced that he may undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has shipped tens of billions of dollars in subsidized oil to the island.

"For the Cubans, this is not just an ideological friend and ally - he's a lifeline for the island economy," said Moises Naim, a Venezuelan who is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. "It's a matter of regime survival to ensure that a Cuban-friendly government is in power in Venezuela."

The friendship between the two men, who are separated by 28 years in age but share ideological affinities that include antipathy for the United States, has periodically been on display over Chavez's 12 years in power.

In 1999, before Castro's own health began to deteriorate, the two played baseball together before 55,000 spectators, appeared on Chavez's "Hello President" TV show and even sang folk songs (Chavez has the upper hand as a crooner).

In 2002, when Chavez was briefly ousted, Castro marshaled the support of Latin American presidents to help weaken the coup plotters who had seized power. More recently, as U.S. diplomatic cables made public by WikiLeaks show, Cuban intelligence officers operating in Venezuela have directly provided information to Chavez, unfettered by Venezuelan officers.

The bond is so tight, in fact, that Chavez's former common-law wife, Herma Marksmen, told American diplomats that Chavez confides in only two people, Castro and his elder brother, Adan.

Here in Venezuela, some of the trappings of Cuba's system are clearly evident: a powerful state propaganda apparatus; the state seizure of companies; the spread of fervent, pro-government neighborhood groups; and the use of the military slogan "Fatherland, socialism or death!"

But in spite of the revolutionary partnership, Venezuela clearly plays the more important role. With huge oil reserves, it replaced the benefactor to Cuba that was lost with the Soviet Union's breakup two decades ago. The 100,000 barrels of oil Cuba receives each day literally keep the lights on, particularly vital now as the Cuban government tinkers with economic liberalization measures to stay afloat.

"So if, let's just say the Venezuelan subsidy ended for whatever reason, Cuba would have a pretty short window - probably weeks, no more than a month or two - to make some very, very severe adjustments," said Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst and the author of "After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro's Regime and Cuba's Next Leader."

So Chavez's ailment, made public in a carefully orchestrated speech from Havana, was quickly felt across Cuba, which had already seen Castro hand over the presidency to his brother, Raul, in 2006 after being sidelined by an intestinal illness.

Venezuelan oil allows Raul Castro to "buy time in the face of citizen discontent," Yoani Sanchez, the author of the Havana-based blog Generation Y, wrote this month, while the loss of Chavez "could hasten Raul's own downfall."

While some Cuba experts disagree with such a dour scenario, there is no doubt that Fidel Castro made sure Chavez got the best of care.

When the surgery was over, Castro brought treats such as lamb and tilapia. He was so pleased by Chavez's recovery, the Venezuelan president recalled, that Castro appeared "luminous, joyous, optimistic."

Chavez, who returned to Caracas last week, has yet to reveal what kind of cancer he has. But speaking on Cuban television, he was emphatic about Castro's role.

"If not for Fidel," Chavez said, "who knows where or in what labyrinth I would be in now."

Copyright washingtonpost.com

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LGI, Geopark Close Stake Sale in Chile

- LGI, Geopark Close Stake Sale in Chile

Monday, May 23, 2011
Geopark Holdings Ltd.

LGI and GeoPark Holdings announced the closing of the previously reported sale to LGI of a 10% interest in GeoPark's oil and gas exploration and production blocks in Chile for US $70 million.

LGI is the energy, natural resource and trading affiliate of LG Corporation, the large international Korean company with 147 subsidiaries operating in over 50 countries and with annual sales exceeding US $100 billion. LGI has successfully invested and operated in the oil and gas exploration and production business for over twenty years including current upstream oil and gas projects in Oman, Vietnam and Kazakhstan. LGI has adopted a long term strategy of investing in oil and gas upstream investments in emerging resource-rich countries and has targeted Latin America as a new growth region in accordance with its strategic partnership with GeoPark.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr. E. K. Lee, Vice President and Head of the Oil and Gas Business Division of LGI, said, "We are very pleased to acquire an interest in GeoPark's upstream platform which represents an attractive foundation for our future growth in Latin America and the first oil and gas investment by a Korean company in Chile. We believe this region represents an area of untapped opportunities and high potential that fits our long term strategic objective of growing a global energy business. Our partnership with GeoPark is a relationship of complementary strengths and we see the GeoPark team and its properties as a key first step in building our business in Latin America. We look forward to growing together with GeoPark."

Commenting on today's announcement, James F. Park, Chief Executive Officer of GeoPark, said, "GeoPark is pleased to close this transaction and views its strategic partnership with LGI as a key element of our future growth and expansion in Latin America. The opportunity to cement this relationship by an initial sharing of projects builds a solid base for a promising long term and committed acquisition partnership. It also clearly demonstrates the value of the business that GeoPark has developed since 2006."

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