Premier Scraps Tolmount Purchase
London-listed Premier Oil has cancelled plans to buy an extra 25% stake in the Tolmount gas field in the North Sea from South Korea's Dana Petroleum, it said on July 2.
Premier announced the deal in January, offering Dana $191mn plus contingent payments of up to $55mn for its share. Premier operates Tolmount with a 50% stake, and has taken a final investment decision on exploiting its 500bn ft3 of gas. Production is now expected to start in the second quarter of 2021, following a six-month delay linked to the coronavirus pandemic and low prices.
The company noted that its creditors had approved its purchase of the Andrew Area and Shearwater assets from BP, after the latter agreed last month to cut the price from $625mn to just $210mn. The acquisition is still pending shareholder and other approvals, and will depend on Premier raising the needed capital.
Premier has said before that the BP deal will be closed before September 30.