Armour Acquires Oilex's Oz Assets

Sydney-listed Armour Energy has executed the deal to acquire all of fellow Australian explorer Oilex’s interests in the Cooper-Eromanga Basin, it said on June 15. Armour will issue up to 34.5mn shares to Oilex to fund the transaction.

As per the agreement, Armour has acquired 100% of the issued capital of CoEra, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oilex. CoEra’s assets include an approximate 79.33% interest in petroleum exploration licence (PEL) 112 and PEL 144, together with an option to acquire the remaining 20.66% interest in each of these PEL’s. The deal was first announced late last month. 

Completion of the sale agreement is subject to a number of conditions. The conditions include that the issue of the shares to Oilex will be subject to any necessary Armour shareholder or regulatory approvals, and the shares issued will also be subject to a 12-month voluntary escrow, Armour said.

Earlier this year, Oilex’s deal to sell its assets in Cooper-Eromanga basin to fellow Australian explorer Doriemus had collapsed after the latter failed to secure funding for the deal. Oilex's purchase of Senex's rights at the 27 PRLs has also run into difficulty, with the pair agreeing on April 3 to push back the deadline for closing the transaction by six months to September. 

Meanwhile, Armour named Brad Lingo as the company’s CEO. Lingo has been actively involved in oil and gas exploration, development and production activities in the Cooper Basin since 1993, Armour said. He was managing director and CEO of Drillsearch Energy for six years.