RockRose closing in on multiple North Sea assets buy

Oil and gas production company RockRose Energy has made progress with its plan to buy a pair of North Sea assets from Maersk Oil. In addition, the oil company is buying two Southern North Sea gas fields. 

The companny announced on December 22, 2016, that it had signed sale and purchase agreements with Maersk Oil North Sea UK to acquire its non-operated interests in the Wytch Farm field, onshore UK, and Scott and Telford fields, located in the UK sector of the North Sea.

In a statement on Wednesday, RockRose said that together with Maersk it is progressing towards completion of the acquisition of interests in the Scott (5.16%) and Telford (2.36%) fields.

However, the company has been informed that multiple partners in Wytch Farm (7.43%) have exercised their pre-emption rights on that asset. The field is operated by Perenco who bought it from BP in 2011. Premier Oil, Ithaca Energy, and Talisman, now part of Repsol, are partners in the field.

The consideration for the interests in Scott and Telford consists of a payment from Maersk to the company.

Separately, Rockrose has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Egerton Energy Ventures Limited including non-operated interests in the Galahad (27.80%) and Mordred (8.33%) gas fields located in the Southern North Sea. Both transactions are subject to OGA approval and customary conditions precedent.

The company has also signed a non-binding heads of terms to acquire a subsidiary of a major trading company which holds small non-operated interests in gas fields located in the Southern North Sea. This proposed acquisition also includes significant tax assets, the company said.

On completion of the acquisitions of the Scott and Telford assets, Egerton, and the other potential acquisition, the company estimates current aggregate production of around 1,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Following the announcement in December regarding the acquisition of stake in three Maersk Oil’s fields, the company requested from the UK Listing Authority to suspend the listing of the shares with immediate effect.

The company has now filed a draft prospectus with the UK Listing Authority and is proceeding with the documentation and application process to re-list. The company will consult with both existing shareholders and potential investors to allow the board to consider a fundraising by way of a private placement, RockRose said in the statement.

The company will also continue to investigate other forms of alternative finance. RockRose noted it has sufficient cash resources to complete the acquisitions given its existing cash balances and completion payments.

Andrew Austin, Executive Chairman, said: “We are delighted with the progress we have made to date in executing our stated strategy. This is an exciting time for the company and we look forward to closing the acquisition of these assets as well as accessing our pipeline of new opportunities from a well-developed platform that we expect to be producing in excess of 1,400 boe/d.”