Premier Gets OK for E.On UK Deal
UK independent Premier Oil said its deal announced January 13 2016 to acquire all of E.ON’s UK North Sea upstream assets for $120 million, plus working capital adjustments, was voted through at a general meeting of its shareholders on April 25 by 99.99% for to 0.01% against.
In January, Premier said the deal would add "significant production and associated cash flow in 2016 and 2017 even at current oil and gas prices," noting that 32% of the assets' estimated 2016 gas production was hedged at 63p/therm with 21% of their 2017 gas hedged at 57p/th.
The deal includes a 5.2% stake in the Total-operated Elgin-Franklin gas-condensate field, 25% of the Huntingdon and 47% of the Babbage fields in both of which Premier will assume operatorship from E.ON, and 50% of the 0.2 trillion to 1 trillion ft3 Tolmount gas discovery now also to be Premier-operated.
Premier said it is currently anticipated that the deal will be completed by the end of April 2016. It will mark the second and final step in E.ON's divestment of its North Sea upstream assets, having sold its Norwegian upstream assets last year for $1.6bn to DEA, owned by Russia-controlled fund LetterOne.
Also on April 25, E.ON said it and Norway's Statoil are now committing to build the 385 MW offshore Arkona windfarm project in the Baltic Sea for start-up in 2019 at a combined cost in excess of €1.2bn, making E.ON the first company to operate wind farms in both the German North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
Mark Smedley