Salamander to Sell Stakes in Indonesia

- Salamander to Sell Stakes in Indonesia

Friday, September 02, 2011
Salamander Energy plc

Salamander has agreed terms with Risco Energy for the sale of Salamander Energy (Java & Sumatra) B.V. through which the Group holds five percent interests in the Offshore Northwest Java (ONWJ) and Southeast Sumatra (SES) PSCs respectively. The cash consideration is $55 million plus working capital adjustments of $1.3 million, with a further deferred cash consideration payable upon the buyer's participation in any extension of the ONWJ PSC.

Highlights

• Salamander has agreed to sell its five percent interests in the ONWJ and SES PSCs to Risco, with an effective date of 30th June 2011. The initial cash consideration for the transaction is $55 million plus working capital adjustments of $1.3 million. The deal is not subject to any additional approvals.
• In addition, a deferred cash payment is to be made upon confirmation of Risco's participation in the extension of the ONWJ PSC. The amount of the deferred payment will be dependent on the timing and level of participation in the ONWJ PSC extension. For a 5% participation, the payment will be capped at $4 million. The payment will be pro-rated to the 5% interest.
• Production attributable to the net 5% interests in the first half of 2011 averaged c. 6,000 boepd and proved and probable reserves attributable to the interests are estimated to be 13 million barrels of oil equivalent as at the mid-year 2011.

Background

The ONWJ and SES PSCs came into production in 1971 and are currently in long-term decline. The assets are currently operated by PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (ONWJ) and CNOOC SES Ltd. (SES).

• The PSCs are currently in their second extension phase, and are due to expire in January 2017 (ONWJ) and September 2018 (SES).
• The assets were originally acquired by the Group in the first half of 2006, since when the ONWJ and SES fields have produced approximately 12.5 million barrels of oil equivalent net to Salamander.
• During the first half of 2011, the interests generated approximately $6.3 million of cash flow post-tax and capex net to the Group.

James Menzies, Chief Executive, Salamander Energy, said, "We have realized excellent full cycle returns on the investment in these mature assets, and this is a timely moment for exit. The strategic motivation for this deal is to re-deploy capital from declining assets into operated, material growth projects where Salamander has influence."

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Encana to Sell Barnett Shale Assets

- Encana to Sell Barnett Shale Assets

Thursday, August 25, 2011
Encana Corp.

Encana has initiated a process to divest of its North Texas natural gas producing assets in the Fort Worth Basin located in the Barnett Shale play. Scotia Waterous (USA) Inc. has been retained as advisor to assist in the process.

"The initiation of the process to sell Encana's North Texas assets is a continuation of the company's ongoing divestiture program, which is well underway and is targeting net divestitures of between US $1 billion and $2 billion for 2011. Encana continuously looks for opportunities to manage its portfolio of producing assets and improve the long-term value creation capacity of its vast resource portfolio. These North Texas assets are high-quality, relatively mature producing properties that hold strong potential for future development. The assets currently produce about 125 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d) and include the associated processing and pipeline facilities on about 52,000 net acres of land in the Fort Worth Basin. We would expect this divestiture to be completed in late 2011 or early 2012," said Jeff Wojahn, Encana's Executive Vice-President & President, USA Division.

"We acquired our core position in the Barnett Shale play in 2004 as a result of a corporate acquisition that was focused on building a major land and production position in the U.S. Rockies. Alongside developing this strong asset, over the years we built a suite of high-growth, early-life resource plays in the Mid-Continent, led by about 295,000 net acres of land in the Haynesville Shale play, where our production is now more than 500 MMcfe/d. In East Texas, our production is about 250 MMcfe/d and our 240,000 net acres hold strong growth potential. Our Mid-Continent resource play teams and operations, based in Dallas, will continue to be a leading contributor to Encana's long-term growth strategy," Wojahn said.

As a leading North American natural gas shale property, the Barnett Shale has provided Encana with high-quality natural gas growth and foundational knowledge which the company has applied across its U.S. and Canadian portfolio of newer resource plays. That foundational knowledge will continue to provide Encana with operational expertise as the company applies multiple advanced technologies to manage costs over the long term and pursue maximizing the margins from all of its natural gas production.

A sale of Encana's North Texas assets would be subject to receiving an acceptable bid, the approval of the companies' boards of directors, normal closing conditions as well as regulatory approvals.

On other fronts, Encana is actively engaged with a number of parties in a competitive process to divest of midstream and producing assets in the U.S. and Canada that no longer fit with its development plans. The company is also in discussions with a number of potential partners looking to make third-party investments aimed at accelerating the value recognition of Encana's enormous resource potential on its undeveloped lands. Proceeds from these transactions are expected to supplement cash flow generation and strengthen the company's balance sheet, providing financial flexibility going into 2012.

Tremendous resource potential across Encana lands

Across North America, Encana has about 7 million net acres of undeveloped land holding tremendous resource potential. Based on an independent assessment of Encana's proved reserves and low estimate economic contingent resources, as of December 31, 2010, this natural gas inventory would last approximately 30 years based on 2010 annualized production.

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Noreco to Sell Stake in Flyndre Discovery

- Noreco to Sell Stake in Flyndre Discovery

Monday, August 22, 2011
Norwegian Energy Co. ASA

Norwegian Energy Company (Noreco) has entered an agreement to sell its share of the Flyndre Paleocene discovery to Maersk Oil for a consideration of NOK 19 million.

Flyndre Paleocene is a cross border discovery operated by Maersk Oil, of which the Norwegian part is located in license PL018C where Noreco holds a 13.338 percent interest.

Noreco's estimated share of proved and probable reserves in this discovery is 0.4 million barrels of oil equivalents. The license also contains a discovery in the Cretaceous formation which will be carved out and retained by Noreco.

The Flyndre sale is expected to have a positive accounting effect of approximately NOK 10 million after tax. The transaction and carve out of the Cretaceous formation as a separate production license are subject to approval by Norwegian authorities.

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Ford To Sell Solar Panel System Alongside With Electric Cars

- Ford To Sell Solar Panel System Alongside With Electric Cars



Aug 17, 2011

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is joining forces with SunPower to offer a rooftop solar system option, which will be sold alongside the upcoming Ford Focus EV. The "Drive Green For Life" program, as its being called, includes mounting solar panels on a customer's home.

Pricing and an exact launch date for the new 2012 Ford Focus isn't available yet, but the car will go on sale first in California and New York in Q4 2011.

Ford also plans to launch 5 other electric or hybrid-electric models in 2012 in North America, and in Europe by 2013.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) has a potential upside of 81.1% based on a current price of $11.07 and an average consensus analyst price target of $20.05.

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Swift Energy to Sell Stakes in Six U.S. Fields

- Swift Energy to Sell Stakes in Six U.S. Fields

Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Swift Energy Co.

Swift Energy has signed a purchase and sales agreement with a private oil and gas company to sell Swift Energy's interests in six fields in South Louisiana, two in Texas and one in Alabama for approximately $53.5 million. Swift Energy will use net proceeds from this transaction to fund a portion of its 2011 capital expenditures.

Production attributable to the fields being sold averaged 10.6 million cubic feet of gas equivalent per day during the first quarter of 2011 with aggregate proved reserves of 92.2 billion cubic feet equivalent (19% proved developed producing and 65% natural gas) at year-end 2010. This sale is expected to close within the next 60 days, with an effective date of August 1, 2011. The total acquisition sale price is subject to post-closing adjustments.

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Clough to Sell Offshore Marine Business

- Clough to Sell Offshore Marine Business

Monday, August 08, 2011
Clough Ltd.

Clough has agreed to sell its offshore Marine Construction Division to SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad (SapuraCrest), a company listed on the Malaysian stock exchange, for gross proceeds of approximately AUD 127MM in cash. The companies have entered into a conditional Master Sale and Purchase Agreement with certain conditions precedent.

Clough's offshore Marine Construction Division includes the derrick lay barge, Java Constructor, and associated marine construction equipment. Also included will be Clough's interest in the Clough Helix Joint Venture, which operates the chartered Normand Clough vessel, and its investments in specialist engineering businesses, OFI and Peritus. Relevant contracts including the Chevron Gorgon Domestic Gas pipeline project are proposed to be novated.

Post transaction the division will continue to operate from Perth with a continuing focus on both the Australian and regional markets. Clough will continue to provide a number of back office services to the business for a period of two years.

The sale will see Clough exit the asset intensive offshore marine construction market. Clough CEO, John Smith said, "While Clough has enjoyed a long history of successfully executing marine construction projects, it is a sector where significant capital investment is required to compete with the larger regional and global players. Our results have been lumpy in this division and consistency requires scale, flexibility of assets and broad geographic coverage. We believe SapuraCrest will bring these characteristics and we wish them and the skilled workforce who will transfer every success for the future. Opportunities abound in the Australian gas and mineral sectors. Our strategy remains that of Engineering led EPC and this transaction leaves Clough with significant net cash and with capacity for further investment."

The sale is subject to satisfaction of a range of conditions precedent, including SapuraCrest obtaining Malaysian Central Bank and shareholders' approval, the consent of relevant clients and partners, the transfer of certain marine construction division staff, and Clough receiving approval from its debt funders. It is anticipated that satisfaction of these conditions precedent will take up to three months. As a result, completion of the sale is currently expected to occur in Q2 of the 2011/12 financial year.

The Marine Construction Division reported an underlying loss of AUD 7.6MM in the 6months to December 31, 2010 after reporting underlying earnings of AUD 24.1MM in the year ended June 30, 2010. Based on current estimates, the one off profit on the sale is expected to be approximately AUD 8MM. The net increase in cash held by Clough will be approximately AUD 50MM after full repayment of Clough's debt facility with RBS and allowing for cash held by the division.

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ONGC In Talks to Sell Indian Ocean Deepwater Stakes - FT

- ONGC In Talks to Sell Indian Ocean Deepwater Stakes - FT

Monday, August 08, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires

India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) is talking to Shell, BG Group and Eni to sell stakes in its Indian Ocean deepwater developments, the Financial Times reported Sunday, citing ONGC's chairman AK Hazarika.

ONGC is already co-operating with Shell, BG and Eni in a number of other blocks, and talks had been under way for some time. ONGC seeks a partner on the technical front to expand the development of its 85 deepwater blocks in the Indian Ocean, Hazarika said in the report available on the FT website, without giving a deadline for the deal.

The company was willing to give away up to 30% of its assets in exchange for technical expertise, Hazarika said, according to the report.

Shell and BG declined comment, while Eni didn't respond, the FT said.


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

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Egdon to Sell Interest in Avington Field

- Egdon to Sell Interest in Avington Field

Monday, August 01, 2011
Egdon Resources plc

Egdon reported that its wholly owned subsidiary Egdon Resources Avington Limited ("ERA") has reached agreement to sell a 10% interest in the Avington oil field under license PEDL070, for £400,000 in cash.

Under the transaction, ERA has agreed to sell a 5% interest to IS E&P Limited and a further 5% interest in the license to IS NV Limited (together the "IS Companies"). The consideration payable by each of the IS Companies for their respective 5% interests will comprise £200,000 in cash payable on completion and the assumption of their pro-rata shares of a Net Profit Interest ("NPI") payable to Heyco Energy Holdings S.L. The NPI varies between 5 and 10% dependent upon oil price. The effective date of the transaction is June 1, 2011.

The transfers of interest are subject to approval by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Prior to the transaction ERA held a 16.67% interest in PEDL070. Egdon Resources U.K. Limited also holds a further 20% interest in the license meaning that on completion Egdon will retain an aggregate 26.67% interest in the license and the Avington oil field.

The Avington oil field is located in the County of Hampshire and is operated by Star Energy Oil UK Limited. Oil is currently produced from the Jurassic age Great Oolite reservoir from two wells, Avington-2Z and Avington-3Z. Production averaged approximately 70 barrels of oil per day in June 2011.

The sale will reduce Egdon's daily production by a maximum expectation of 7 barrels of oil per day and reduce its Proven and Probable reserves by an estimated 23,000 barrels of oil. The contribution to net profit from the 10% interest for the eleven months to end June 2011 after depreciation and amortization was £18,500 before tax (unaudited). The gross cash flow from the interest for the same period was £58,000 (unaudited). The carrying value of the asset sold as at June 30, 2011 was £422,390 (unaudited).

The proceeds of the sale, which will total £400,000 payable on completion, will be utilized on Egdon's active UK and French exploration, appraisal and development program where the Company believes it can generate a better return on investment.

The IS Companies are private companies involved in oil and gas exploration and production. InfraStrata is a 50% shareholder in both companies although both companies have independent boards. Egdon directors Ken Ratcliff and Walter Roberts are also directors of InfraStrata plc and Walter Roberts and John Rix have shareholdings in the IS Companies. As such an independent committee of Egdon directors comprising Philip Stephens, Alan Booth and Mark Abbott was set up to consider the offers and negotiate and approve the transaction.

Commenting on the sale Egdon's Managing Director Mark Abbott said, "These transactions realize a significant proportion of our expected future value from the transferred interest in cash at a time of strong oil price. Egdon believes it can utilize this cash on its higher potential projects in the UK and France to provide a better return for shareholders. We still retain a material interest in the Avington field and any upside which may be realized from future drilling".

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Penn Virginia to Sell Arkoma Basin Properties

- Penn Virginia to Sell Arkoma Basin Properties

Friday, July 29, 2011
Penn Virginia Corp.

Penn Virginia has entered into a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of its Arkoma Basin properties, together with certain other Mid-Continent properties, to an undisclosed buyer for $30.5 million in cash. This sale is expected to close by the end of August and is subject to customary closing conditions and purchase price adjustments.

The properties being sold include the Hartshorne coalbed methane and Woodford Shale formations, as well as a number of conventional natural gas play types. The properties are currently producing, on a net basis, approximately 7.8 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent (MMcfe) per day, approximately 97 percent of which is natural gas. As a result of the divestiture, PVA's 2011 production will decrease by an estimated 0.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent (Bcfe). Estimated proved reserves associated with the divested properties, as determined by PVA's third party engineers at year-end 2010, were 42.5 Bcfe, 78 percent of which were proved developed. PVA intends to use the net proceeds from this sale to fund, in part, its 2011 capital expenditure plan, as well as for general corporate purposes.

RBC Richardson Barr served as PVA's financial advisor in connection with the transaction.

H. Baird Whitehead, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Our strategy to shift the focus of our capital spending to oil and natural gas liquids made our Arkoma and other Mid-Continent assets appropriate divestiture candidates. The increase in liquidity generated by the sale of these properties will give us further flexibility to help fund investment in our liquids-rich plays, such as the Eagle Ford Shale, that generate higher rates of return and also improve our growth and profitability going forward."

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Cabot to Sell Assets in Rocky Mountain

- Cabot to Sell Assets in Rocky Mountain

Thursday, July 28, 2011
Cabot O&G Corp.

Cabot O&G announced new milestones in its Marcellus operation, well successes in its Eagle Ford position, a discovery in its Marmaton effort in Oklahoma, and an agreement to sell its Rocky Mountain natural gas assets – primarily the Green River basin assets of Wyoming. Additionally, the Company increased its production guidance for the remainder of the year.

Rocky Mountain Sale

The Company has signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement under which it is selling all of its producing assets and acreage in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah to an undisclosed third party for total consideration of $285 million, subject to normal and customary closing adjustments. Cabot will remove approximately 170 Bcfe of booked reserves and about 27 Mmcfe in daily production from its portfolio on the effective date of this sale. "We have not allocated capital to these assets since early 2009, and we have no near-term plans for new investments due to other opportunities in our portfolio," said Dan O. Dinges, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "For this reason, when the opportunity arose to monetize and effectively accelerate the cash flows from these assets, we agreed with the thought to redeploy non-valued capital into our Marcellus activity and our oil initiatives."

The transaction has an effective date of September 1, 2011, is scheduled to close in early October 2011 and excludes the Company's prospective oil shale acreage in both Montana and Nevada. "To that end, we are still evaluating our first Heath Shale well in Montana," said Dinges.

The Rocky Mountain deal, the East Texas joint venture/asset sales and some small miscellaneous sales activity are expected to provide Cabot with over $340 million in proceeds during 2011. This reinforces Cabot's commitment to fiscal discipline. "These transactions provide us the opportunity to add to our acreage position in liquid-rich areas of Texas and Oklahoma, as well as enhance the opportunity to drill a few more wells in the Marcellus in Pennsylvania," commented Dinges. "Only a portion of the expected proceeds are earmarked for 2011 expenditures currently, so my expectation is for debt to be reduced year over year – 2010 to 2011 – and for our program to deliver significant reserve and production growth even after these sales."

Operations

In the Marcellus, the wells continue to perform with exceptional success. Recently the Company completed a three-well pad, which resulted in all three wells reporting a 24-hour initial production rate of over 20 Mmcf per day. The corresponding 30-day production rate averaged over 17 Mmcf per day per well, or 52 Mmcf per day in total.

"Our acreage continues to provide consistently outstanding results," stated Dinges. "It is our plan to allocate a portion of our sales proceeds to drill more pad sites, to assist in the replacement of the sold Rocky Mountain production."

Additionally in the Marcellus, the Company now has two wells that have produced over 4 Bcf, one in 12 months, the other in 16 months; eight other wells that have produced over 3 Bcf; and overall field production now totals above 135 Bcf since the project commenced. At the time of this release, production from the Marcellus is a restricted rate of 420 to 430 Mmcf per day, nearly all of which is from 81 horizontal wells.

In the Eagle Ford during the second quarter, four horizontal oil wells were placed in production. The average 24-hour initial production rate for each of the four completed wells was 721 barrels per day equivalent. "Our Eagle Ford plan for the year is for 25 to 30 net wells," said Dinges. "Right now we have drilled 16 wells, have two wells drilling and have six in the queue for completions."

Earlier this year, the Company tested a new oil concept in the Marmaton oil shale located in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. The result was a 24-hour initial production level of 646 barrels of oil equivalent (592 Bopd, 325 Mcf per day) from a 10-stage completion in a 4,000' lateral. Additionally the completed well cost was just over $4.0 million, including some science work. "We remained quiet about this well as we wanted to add acreage," commented Dinges. "We now have over 32,000 net acres in the play, plan to participate as a non-operator in six wells and, depending on rig availability, may use some of our asset sale proceeds to drill another operated well here later in the year. Clearly a 10-stage completed well with initial production competitive with the Eagle Ford play and at a lower cost is an attractive place to allocate capital."

"I have been pleased with our 2011 effort as we continue to make great strides in our operations that have allowed another increase in production guidance, even with the Rocky Mountains sale," said Dinges. "We are building great momentum for 2012 where, based on moderate commodity prices, an early review of our program shows a cash flow positive investment year even after funding what is expected to be a record level organic investment effort."

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Inpex to Sell Stake in Masela Block

- Inpex to Sell Stake in Masela Block

Friday, July 22, 2011
Inpex Corp.

Inpex announced that its affiliate Inpex Masela has signed an agreement with Shell Upstream Overseas Services (I) Limited a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell), to transfer a 30% participating interest in the Masela Block, the Arafura Sea, Indonesia (Abadi Project). This transaction is subject to approval of the Indonesian Government and satisfaction of certain other conditions.

Inpex Masela is the operator with a 90% participating interest in the Masela Block, which measures 3,221km2 in a water depth ranging from 300m to 1,000m. The Abadi gas field was discovered in 2000, and the subsequent six appraisal wells and the study results confirmed the sufficient gas reserves for LNG development. In December 2010, the plan of development was approved by the Indonesian Government that the Abadi gas field will be developed in phases and a Floating LNG (FLNG) plant will be constructed and utilized for an annual production of 2.5 million tonnes for the first phase development.

Inpex Masela is currently preparing to award Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) contracts, which is scheduled for the 1st half of 2012.

Based on the technical characteristics of the Abadi Project, which is a large-scale offshore LNG project, Inpex considers it vital to invite a strategic partner among major oil companies, which has sufficient expertise and experiences of LNG business and, in particular, of large scale offshore gas development activities. As a result, Inpex decided to invite Shell as the strategic partner for Abadi Project. Shell is a world leader of LNG projects and has a particular capability in FLNG technology which will be very valuable to the Abadi Project. In particular, Shell has just demonstrated its leadership and delivery in FLNG activities by reaching a final investment decision on the Prelude FLNG project made in May 2011, the first FLNG project globally to reach development level.

While Inpex Masela will continue to be the Operator of the Abadi Project holding a 60% participating interest, it is expected that the participation of Shell with its extensive expertise and experiences in offshore production, gas liquefaction, LNG shipping and, in particular, its FLNG experiences will help ensure the timely delivery of the Abadi project. It will also contributes largely to promote a wider collaborative relationship between Inpex and Shell on the Abadi project and other projects.

Inpex continues to seek support from the Indonesian Government and other stakeholders for a successful commercial production from the Abadi project.

Inpex has a 50% working interest in the Offshore Mahakam Block with the largest gas production in Indonesia. Inpex will be expanding its exploration and development activities in Indonesia as one of the company’s core business areas.

• Participating Interests
  • Inpex Masela (Operator) : 60%
  • Shell Upstream Overseas Services Limited : 30%
  • PT EMP Energi Indonesia(EMPI) : 10%
• Planned Schedule
  • FEED: Planned to start by the 1st half of 2012
  • Abadi Project FLNG

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ROC to Sell Stake in Mozambique Block

- ROC to Sell Stake in Mozambique Block

Friday, July 08, 2011
Roc Oil Co. Ltd.

ROC has agreed to sell its 75% interest in the Juan de Nova Maritime Profond Block, located in the French Exclusive Economic zone off the coast of Juan de Nova Island (Mozambique Channel), to South Atlantic Petroleum JDN SAS, a wholly owned subsidiary of South Atlantic Petroleum Limited (SAPETRO), for between US $8.0 million and US $8.5 million (depending on date of completion) subject to working capital adjustments. The effective date of the sale is July 1, 2011.

The agreement is subject to normal industry terms and conditions, including the receipt of relevant joint venture waivers or approvals and all necessary government approvals. Due to the approval process completion of the sale may not take place in 2011.

Roc Oil (Madagascar) Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC, has withdrawn from its 75% interest in the Belo Profond Block, offshore Madagascar (Mozambique Channel) effective June 23, 2011. Marex MC Inc., ROC's current joint venture partner, has elected to take assignment of ROC's entire interest in Belo Profond.

ROC does not carry any value for the Mozambique Channel exploration blocks on the balance sheet.

Commenting on the sale, ROC's Chief Executive Officer, Alan Linn, stated, "The divestment of ROC's interest in the Juan de Nova Maritime Profond Block and its withdrawal from the Belo Profond Block follows the sale of its onshore Angola acreage announced in May. ROC's strategy is to generate future growth through exploration, appraisal and pre-development opportunities located in the focus region of China, South East Asia and Australasia. The deepwater and frontier exploration characteristics of the Mozambique Channel blocks are not consistent with this strategy. ROC's exit from the Mozambique Channel will allow the redeployment of capital and resources to pursue opportunities more consistent with the Company's strategy. ROC will continue to pursue the divestment of its remaining African assets, which are located offshore Equatorial Guinea and offshore Mauritania."

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Colombia Oil Group Plans $80B Spend, Govt May Sell 10% -Executive

- Colombia Oil Group Plans $80B Spend, Govt May Sell 10% -Executive

Thursday, June 23, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON
by Benoit Faucon

Colombia's Ecopetrol group of oil companies is planning to spend $80 billion through 2020 in a bid to produce 1.3 million barrels a day, a top Ecopetrol executive said Thursday.

Hernando Zerda, head of corporate strategy and business performance, said the government may also sell a 10% stake in Ecopetrol, the main shareholder in the group of oil companies mostly operating in the Latin American nation.

Speaking at the World National Oil Companies Congress here, Zerda said the companies of the Ecopetrol group are set for a total capital expenditure of $80 billion during 2011-2020.

The spending will help achieve a goal to produce 1.3 million barrels a day in the Ecopetrol companies--most of it in Colombia--in 2020, up from just above 700,000 barrels a day today, he said.

The majority of the financing will come from cash generation, but "sometime in the future, we will need to issue new shares" potentially representing 10% of the Ecopetrol capital "if prices are good," he said.

Separately, "the government is considering selling 10%" in Ecopetrol, the executive said.

But both considerations are "not confirmed," he said.

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

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Connacher O&G to Sell Halfway Creek Leases

- Connacher O&G to Sell Halfway Creek Leases

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Connacher O&G Ltd.

Connacher O&G announced that in conjunction with Alberta Oil Sands ("AOS"), has engaged RBC Rundle to assist in the sale of a 100 percent working interest (held 50 percent by Connacher and 50 percent by AOS) in 38.5 contiguous sections (24,640 acres) of oil sands leases located at Halfway Creek, in the heart of the Athabasca oil sands region in northeast Alberta.

As at December 31, 2010, in aggregate, the Halfway Creek leases have been assigned 154.5 million barrels of best estimate contingent resources and 47.7 million barrels of best estimate prospective resources based on an independent reserve and resource report prepared by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. ("GLJ"). To date, a total of 32 core holes have been drilled on the Halfway Creek lands and the lease block has been covered by 2-D seismic. Connacher is disposing of its interest in the Halfway Creek leases to allow the company to continue to focus on its Great Divide assets as its core oil sands region. As evaluated by GLJ in a report as at December 31, 2010, Great Divide has the potential for greater than 55,000 bbl/d of bitumen production, based on estimates of proved plus probable plus possible reserves.

Assuming successful completion of the disposition process, the transaction would further fortify Connacher's liquidity position. The disposition is consistent with the company's previously announced five-point strategy for 2011, which includes asset rationalization, production optimization, streamlining its balance sheet, accelerating its evaluation of its conventional resource plays and accelerating the development of its Great Divide oil sands assets through a process to conclude a joint venture.

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Seadrill to Sell Jackup West Janus

- Seadrill to Sell Jackup West Janus

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Seadrill Ltd.

Seadrill has entered into an agreement to sell the 1985 built jackup drilling rig West Janus to Harrington LLC in Dubai for a total consideration of US $73 million.

Seadrill expects to record a gain on the sale in excess of US $50 million on closing. Closing of the agreement and the transfer of ownership of the unit is scheduled upon completion of the rig's present drilling assignment in the second half of 2011.

Seadrill's fleet of jack-up rigs remains the world largest modern jack-up fleet with a total of 19 units built after 2006, including rigs under construction. Furthermore, Seadrill has options for construction of six further units at attractive prices.

Alf C Thorkildsen, CEO of Seadrill Management AS said, "We remain optimistic about the market outlook for premium jack-up rigs, and at the same time continue to highgrade our fleet by disposing some older units, while adding new rigs to it. The disposal of West Janus further reduces the average age of the modern Seadrill jack-up fleet to 2.6 years, and is in line with our strategy of focusing our company on modern, premium offshore drilling units."

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Delta to Sell Remaining Assets to Wapiti

- Delta to Sell Remaining Assets to Wapiti

Friday, June 17, 2011
Delta Petroleum Corp.

Delta Petroleum has entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) with Wapiti to sell its remaining non-operated interests in various non-core assets for $43.2 million. The transaction is expected to close by the end of June.

The non-operated, non-core assets to be sold to Wapiti consist of Delta's remaining working interests in the fields of the DJ Basin and Texas. The working interests being sold in this transaction constitute the non-operated portions of these fields that were retained by Delta when Delta sold properties to Wapiti in August of 2010.

Carl Lakey, Delta's CEO, commented, "As we discussed on our last conference call, the expected proceeds from the sale of these non-core assets will allow us to fund current and future drilling activity in the Vega Area and reduce our senior secured debt balances. Our borrowing base with Macquarie will decrease by $22 million to $33 million as a result of the sale. The sale of the remaining non-core assets makes Delta essentially a pure Piceance Basin company. The Vega Area has been and will remain the focus of the Company's capital and efforts."

Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. and Evercore Group, L.L.C. acted as financial advisors to Delta in connection with this transaction.

The Company also announced that it has recently finished completion activities on the 2C well and is transitioning to flow-back activities.

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Weatherford Plans to Sell Up To $1B in Assets -Wells Fargo

- Weatherford Plans to Sell Up To $1B in Assets -Wells Fargo

Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
HOUSTON
by Ryan Dezember

Weatherford plans to sell between $500 million and $1 billion worth of assets, according to analysts with Wells Fargo Securities, who said company officials briefed them on the plan in a recent meeting.

The divestitures would be of "mostly non-oilfield subsidiaries Weatherford has accumulated through its myriad acquisitions over the years," the analysts wrote in a client note.

Weatherford officials were not immediately available to respond to requests for comment.

Shares of Weatherford were up 0.28%, or 5 cents, at $17.66 in midday trading.

In selling the assets, the company's goals "are to free up both capital and managerial attention currently dedicated to these businesses," the analysts wrote.

Oilfield-service profits have risen rapidly from the recession as producers raced to exploit North America's unconventional onshore reserves amidst high oil prices. Weatherford's earnings, however, have lagged behind competitors Halliburton, Schlumberger, and Baker Hughes.

The Wells Fargo analysts said their meeting with Weatherford officials in Houston on Monday was one of several in which the executives are meeting with investors and "working on rebuilding the company's credibility."

In early March, Weatherford disclosed errors in its tax accounting for 2007 through 2010, which forced the company to adjust previously reported earnings. The March 2 disclosure pushed shares, which had been trading near a 52-week high, down 12.6%.

Late last month, in a rare rebuke, shareholders voted against the company's executive compensation plan in an advisory say-on-pay tally.

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

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BP: No Decision Taken to Sell Any of Its TNK-BP Shareholding

- BP: No Decision Taken to Sell Any of Its TNK-BP Shareholding

Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Alexis Flynn

BP said Tuesday it has no plans at present to divest any of its shareholding in TNK-BP Ltd.

BP's comments follow a report late Monday that the U.K. major was beginning preparations to sell part of its stake in the conflict-plaugued Russian venture to Rosneft in a bid to salvage a landmark cooperation deal with the Russian state oil company.

"BP has taken no decision to sell any of its shareholding in TNK-BP and there is no current intention to do so," a BP spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Top BP executives notified the Russian billionaire shareholders in TNK-BP Monday that the U.K. company would soon send them a letter formally announcing the U.K. company's intention to sell down its 50% TNK-BP stake, the first step in such a sale, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the situation.

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

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Petsec to Sell Chinese Interests to Fund U.S. Shale Oil Development

- Petsec to Sell Chinese Interests to Fund U.S. Shale Oil
Development

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Karen Boman

Australia-based Petsec Energy will sell its interests in China's Beibu Gulf in order to fund its exploration efforts for unconventional shale oil on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Petsec Chairman Terrence N. Fern said the company's board has determined that the US $37 million of funding required to develop the Mmbbl net to Petsec in the 6.12/12.8W oil fields would most likely deliver superior and earlier returns if applied to shale oil operations in the U.S. Fern anticipates the process and completion of a sale could take four months. The 6.12/12/8W oil fields are located in Block 22/12.

The company has developed a number of potentially large conventional oil subsalt plays in the Gulf Coast and near onshore areas which the company hopes to test later in 2012. However, Fern said during a presentation Wednesday that the company believes the quickest and least risky acquisition of sizable oil reserve additions is through shale oil onshore Louisiana and Texas.

"The advanced of horizontal drilling, fraccing and completion technologies which has given us a glut of gas, has in recent years allowed the investigation of profitable extraction of oil from shales."

The company has formed a joint venture with an experienced Eagle Ford shale player and has been conducting a regional review over the past nine months to identify areas of shale oil potential which are not being actively explored. In the past two years, the Eagle Ford has developed into a viable oil play, indicating reserves of 250,000 to 400,000 bbl/well for each 120 acre spacing. The play also has had highly repeatable success, $20/bbl finding and development costs, and operating cost of less than $3/bbl.

"Our strategy is to be an 'early mover' in areas where the shale source rocks are liquid rich and to acquire high quality acreage before it becomes extremely competitive and costly to lease," Fern said. "Initial leasing in a trend may take place at rate of $100/acre (more or less), but once a play has been proven and competition becomes heated, rates can climb to $10,000/acre (or more)."

The global financial downturn, weak U.S. gas prices, and the impacts of Hurricane Ike and the Macondo oil spill has prompted Petsec to refocus its business plan from the Gulf of Mexico and towards a exploration and production focus onshore Louisiana and Texas, and to pursue unconventional shale oil plays. As part of this strategy, Petsec has also repaid its debt, increased its exploration targets size, and increased its exposure to oil.

As part of its 2011-2013 business plan for the U.S., the company will target conventional oil and gas/condensate prospects with net reserve additions of more than 100 Bcfe, and has 10 prospects of 20 Bcfe to 200 Bcfe each on which to focus. The mapped potential of these 10 prospects ranges from 400 to 750 Bcfe, which Petsec plans to test over the next three years.

For unconventional shale oil, Petsec will target prospects with net reserve additions of over 35 MMbbl and will focus on lease acquisition and drilling activity in the second half of 2011.

The company will participate in three to five conventional wells in 2011 in the Gulf Coast and on the Gulf of Mexico shelf, with most activity to take place in this year's fourth quarter. One to two wells will be drilled on the Marathon gas/condensate discovery made in October 2010, and at least one high impact Gulf of Mexico well will be drilled as well.

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TAP to Sell Stake in WA-351-P

TAP to Sell Stake in WA-351-P

Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Tap Oil Limited

Tap Oil Limited has agreed to sell to Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) Pty Ltd a 25% interest in the highly prospective WA-351-P exploration permit in Western Australia's Carnarvon Basin.

MIMI will acquire the 25% participating interest for a cash consideration of US$30,154,000. After costs relating to the transaction, Tap expects to net $26 million in cash from the sale. In addition, MIMI will pay Tap's 20% share of the next exploration well in the permit up to a cap of US$10 million (Tap share).

Tap's holding in the exploration permit will reduce from 45% to 20%. BHP Billiton Petroleum (North West Shelf) Pty Ltd will retain a 55% interest and is the Operator. The acquisition by MIMI is subject to relevant joint venture and government approvals.

This transaction follows Tap's acquisition of an additional 20% interest in the permit for US$15.75 million earlier this year.

Tap's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Troy Hayden said:

"MIMI is a very well respected participant in the LNG industry and we are particularly pleased to have them participate in the joint venture. We are looking forward to drilling the first well in the renewed WA-351-P and the Operator, BHP Billiton, has put forward the Tallaganda prospect which could be drilled in late 2011 or early 2012."

Prospectivity of WA-351-P

The Operator completed a detailed assessment of the plays, prospects and leads in the permit in 2010 including the 3D seismic acquired in 2008. Over 10 leads and prospects were defined in the Triassic Mungaroo Formation which Tap estimates have a combined estimated mean potential of 2-3 Tcf (gross recoverable) of natural gas. Tap considers that a number of these targets have an estimated probability of success over 50%.

Additional leads have been identified in WA-351-P in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, both of which are productive elsewhere in the Carnarvon Basin. Current indications are that this shallower potential is larger but higher risk than the Triassic in this permit. Further work will be done on these objectives.

The high chance of success is reinforced by Hess' reporting of 13 gas discoveries from 16 exploration wells drilled to date in the adjacent WA-390-P permit, immediately north of WA-351-P. Hess has commenced a multi-well appraisal program in WA-390-P.

The proximity of WA-351-P to many large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects being developed should provide the joint venture with many options for the commercialisation of any gas discoveries.

Tallaganda Prospect

The Tallaganda prospect in WA-351-P has been high graded as an attractive prospect and an early drilling candidate. Tallaganda straddles WA-351-P and WA-335-P and has a prospective resource range of 0.8 Tcf to 1.3 Tcf (Mean to P10 recoverable) within WA-351-P.

Strong seismic amplitudes within closure and AVO support in the Tallaganda fault block are indicative of reservoir and gas and the prospect is assessed as having a greater than 50% chance of success.

Under the terms of the exploration license, an exploration well is required to be drilled before 5 June 2013. The Operator has advised that a well on the Tallaganda prospect could spud in 2011 or early 2012.

WA-351-P Joint Venture Participants — Post Sale

• Tap (Shelfal) Pty Ltd, 20%
• Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) Pty Ltd, 25%
• BHP Billiton Petroleum (North West Shelf) Pty Ltd., 55%

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