Panoro becomes sole owner of Tunisian business

London-based independent E&P company Panoro Energy has wrapped up the acquisition of a 40 per cent shareholding in Sfax Petroleum Corporation (SPC) from Beender Tunisia Petroleum Limited (Beender) for a total consideration of approximately $18.2 million in a mix of cash and shares.

The deal for the consolidation of ownership in SPC was disclosed last week. Through its subsidiaries, SPC indirectly owns a 49 per cent interest in the producing TPS assets which cover five oil field concessions in the region of the city of Sfax, onshore and offshore shallow water Tunisia, and an 87.5 per cent interest in the Sfax Offshore Exploration Permit (SOEP) offshore Tunisia.

In an update on Monday, 24 April 2023, Panoro confirmed that all conditions were satisfied, thus, the acquisition of a 40 per cent interest in SPC was completed. Following this, the firm’s ownership in SPC has increased to 100 per cent – 49 per cent interest in the TPS assets and 87.5 per cent interest in SOEP – with SPC becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Panoro.

The company explains that an upfront cash consideration of $4.9 million cash has been paid in accordance with the previously announced terms of the acquisition while a share-based payment of $8.3 million will shortly be made via the allotment and issue of 2,945,035 new Panoro shares at an issue price of NOK 29.18 per share. In addition, a deferred cash consideration of $5 million is expected to be paid by the end of 2023.

Furthermore, the TPS assets entail five oil field concessions – Cercina, Cercina Sud, Rhemoura, El Ain/Gremda and El Hajeb/Guebiba – in the region of the city of Sfax, onshore and shallow water offshore Tunisia. The current production is stable at rates in excess of 4,000 barrels of oil per day. The SOEP, containing the Ras El Besh Concession, is located in the prolific oil and gas Cretaceous and Eocene carbonate platforms of the Pelagian Basin offshore Tunisia.

In addition, there are three oil discoveries in the permit – Salloum, Ras El Besh, and Jawahra – with gross recoverable oil estimated to be approximately 20 million barrels. There is also considerable exploration potential within the permit, with gross unrisked prospective resources estimated at around 250 million barrels.

The completion of this acquisition comes after Panoro secured more acreage offshore Equatorial Guinea, following the award of a stake and operatorship in Block EG-01.