Antrim receives Fyne, Erne money from former JV
2015-11-17 06:31 ET - News Release
Mr. Anthony Potter reports
ANTRIM ENERGY INC. CORPORATE UPDATE
After completion of the Fyne and Erne abandonment program in September, 2015, amounts invoiced to Antrim Energy Inc.'s former joint venture partners for their portion of the abandonment costs have now been received.
The company, with its current cash resources, and with no debt and no decommissioning obligations, is in a strong financial position. Estimated unrestricted cash on hand, less trade payables is $9.7-million (U.S.) (seven cents per share). In addition the company anticipates, subject to finalization and government approval of the transfer of Kosmos Energy Ireland's interest in frontier exploration licence 1/13 to Antrim, obtaining at no further cost a 100-per-cent working interest in this highly prospective area in the Porcupine basin offshore Ireland's west coast.
Antrim was one of the first companies to realize the potential in the southern Porcupine basin. The company has, in conjunction with Kosmos, identified numerous leads including two highly prospective Jurassic fault blocks and one Cretaceous submarine fan system in the FEL 1/13 licence. The Porcupine basin is the conjugate basin to the eastern Canadian Orphan basin/Flemish Pass area. Studies of these conjugate margins have demonstrated many similarities in terms of source rock, maturation, hydrocarbon migration, reservoir characteristics and trap formation. To move exploration of FEL 1/13 forward, Antrim will be seeking to farm out a portion of its interest in the licence to a new operator. Participants' interest in the recent Ireland 2015 Atlantic margin licensing round was very strong, and the results, when announced, may have a further impact on the farm-out process.
With respect to the company's plans to look for merger and acquisition opportunities, there is growing consensus that oil and gas sector M&A activity should increase. Antrim will continue to assess opportunities based on, amongst other criteria, strategic fit, focus on near-term appraisal/development, use of funds, transformative potential with upside potential for Antrim shareholders, and current or near-term cash flow.
We seek Safe Harbor.