AIM-listed oil company Hague and London Oil (HALO) has completed the acquisition of Tullow Oil’s gas producing assets in the Dutch North Sea.
After the acquisition was given shareholder approval during HALO’s general meeting on November 1, the ownership of interests in Tullow’s offshore exploration and production licenses in the Dutch North Sea has now been transferred to HALO.
As a reminder, the initial deal between the two companies was agreed back in April . Specifically, the acquisition comprises interests in 12 licenses on the Dutch Continental Shelf (DCS) in the Northern Area and a suite of interests in the Joint Development Area in the western part of the DCS. The acreage spreads over 2,878 sq km which generated total net production of 2,900 boepd in 2016.
HALO’s subsidiary, Hague and London Oil B.V., acquired the assets through the purchase of the entire issued share capital of Tullow 101 Netherlands B.V. and its two subsidiaries, Tullow Exploration & Production B.V. and Tullow Exploration & Production Netherlands B.V.
HALO added on Monday that the structured finance and off-take facility provided by ENGIE has been established, for a total of €10 million of which €6 million has been drawn down to fund the initial consideration plus associated costs. The remainder of this initial €6 million will be used for working capital and to provide funds for future development capital, new ventures, or acquisitions exceeding net operating cash flows generated from the Netherlands Assets, the company explained.
Additionally, there remains a €4 million undrawn tranche of the ENGIE facility, which HALO can utilize in part, or in whole, for additional capital needs in 2018. It is also possible to expand the ENGIE facility in the future to finance any similar acquisitions.
HALO is now a producer of more than 2,500 boepd, having 2P reserves in excess of 12 mmboe, more than 19 mmboe in contingent resource and interests in 17 different licenses offshore Netherlands as well as associated pipelines and infrastructure.
Andrew Cochran , HALO’s chairman and interim CEO, said: “This transformational acquisition wouldn’t have been possible in the current environment without ENGIE’s support, as established in the MoU signed in August 2016.”
Mircea Caratas , chief commercial trading officer at ENGIE global energy management business unit, added: “The team at HALO has great vision and determination and we look forward to deepening our mutual relationship as they look for further expansion opportunities. ENGIE has provided HALO with a ‘tailor-made’ solution for their acquisition, in line with our strategy to build out a strong midstream and trading position in Europe and the North Sea through innovative structured physical solutions for upstream players.”