Valeura combines Gulf of Thailand assets through corporate restructuring to pursue growth opportunities

Canada-based oil and gas company Valeura Energy has completed an internal restructuring of its Thailand-based subsidiaries, which is expected to optimize the financial and operational aspects of its Thai assets.

The restructuring has enabled Valeura’s wholly-owned subsidiary Valeura Energy (Thailand) to hold working interests in the Nong Yao, Manora, and Wassana fields in the Gulf of Thailand, known as Thai III assets, whereas it previously only had an interest in Wassana.

Dr. Sean Guest, President and CEO, commented: “Today marks a milestone in delivering value for our shareholders, and completes the integration work we started after our Gulf of Thailand acquisitions in 2022 and 2023. Early on, we identified the potential for greater efficiency by bringing our Thai III assets together through a re-organisation; our team recognised that together, these assets are worth more than the sum of their parts.”

The company anticipates that the new structure will allow it to optimize the assets’ operational and financial aspects, leading to efficiencies through ongoing contracting and procurement, as well as the pooling of associated future costs and historical tax loss carry-forwards associated with these assets. 

The petroleum income tax for the three assets in question will now be assessed as a single entity, while the obligations relating to the previous subsidiary company arrangement need to be settled within the next 30 days. The Canadian player has estimated that the cumulative tax loss carry-forwards total $397 million as of September 30, 2024.

Additionally, the restructuring does not affect the taxation arrangements for the Jasmine field, which is governed by different fiscal terms, known as Thai I, and held in a separate subsidiary entity. 

The firm’s Nong Yao C development achieved the first oil in August through three of the seven planned wells located in license G11/48, with additional wells planned to be brought online successively.

The production at Wassana field was temporarily suspended in July out of precaution after an anomaly was detected on the field’s mobile offshore production unit (MOPU), Ingenium.

A month later, the firm stated that an underwater inspection confirmed the crack to be superficial, with no risk involved to the facility’s structural integrity, noting that it intends to resume production.