Sequa Petroleum N.V. Acquires Large Asset Portfolio on the Norwegian Continental Shelf

PR60939

LONDON, June 18, 2015/PRN=KYODO JBN/ --

    Sequa Petroleum NV ("SPNV") is pleased to announce that an agreement has

been reached for the acquisition of Tellus Petroleum Invest AS and its

subsidiary Tellus Petroleum AS (collectively "Tellus") a company registered in

Norway.

    Concurrent with the acquisition, Tellus has entered into an agreement with

Wintershall Norge AS ("Wintershall") to complete a large asset portfolio

transaction on the Norwegian Continental Shelf ("NCS") acquiring working

interests in 4 fields; Knarr 20%, Maria 15%, Ivar Aasen 6.5% and Veslefrikk

4.5%. Interests in seven exploration licenses and 10% in PL316 which contains

Yme are also included in the transaction. As is normal for this type of

transaction it is subject to consent by the Norwegian Authorities, including

the approval of Tellus as a new NCS player, closing is expected at the end of

2015.

    The purchase price for this portfolio is US$ 602 million, which makes it

one of the major acquisitions on the NCS so far this year. In addition, Tellus

Petroleum will make a further payment of up to US$100 million depending on the

development of the oil price in the period from 2016 to 2019. With proven and

probable (2P) reserves estimated to be 59 million boe net, based on the numbers

from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). The production peak is expected

to be in the order of 15,000 boe net per day, predominantly oil. The effective

date for the transaction is 1st January 2015.

    On completion of the acquisition of Tellus, SPNV will become the 100%

owner. Completion is subject only to a shareholder vote with simple majority of

the votes cast, for which irrevocable undertakings of 48% of its shareholders

have been obtained in addition to 15% of votes held by SPNV management team.

    The current management team in Tellus will continue to run the company and

the organisation will be further developed to manage the portfolio.

    The consideration for the acquisition of Tellus by SPNV is a combination of

cash and new shares issued by SPNV to sellers of the shares in Tellus.

Depending on future performance, the consideration will be a maximum of 6m SPNV

shares and $4m cash.

    In addition to their extensive technical and commercial expertise in

Norway, Tellus brings an attractive business development portfolio with

identified targets that provide additional economies of scale, with attractive

incremental returns in the near term.  This fits with SNPV's strategic goal to

acquire oil and gas assets that are in production or are being rapidly

developed towards production.

    About Sequa Petroleum  

    Sequa Petroleum is an oil and gas company listed on Euronext Marche Libre

which focuses on taking discovered oil and gas reserves and resources from

appraisal through to production. Sequa Petroleum has assembled a highly

experienced management team with a proven track record and expertise in

exploration, appraisal, development and production of oil and gas assets, both

onshore and offshore, in jurisdictions around the globe. Sequa Petroleum is

supported by a strong and dedicated shareholder base which includes its entire

senior management team as well as the privately owned Principal Investment

holding company Sapinda Holding BV. Sequa Petroleum pursues mid-sized

discoveries that have not yet been developed for a number of reasons, e.g.

commercialisation approach, technology application or lack of capital and Sequa

aim to unlock opportunities and realise their potential value.

    About Tellus Petroleum  

    Tellus Petroleum was established in 2012 by a group of entrepreneurs with

background from Saga Petroleum, Norsk Hydro, Phillips Petroleum, Hess and

PetroAdvisor as an independent Norwegian upstream oil & gas company with sole

focus on the NCS. The aim is to establish and further enhance the value of a

portfolio of interests in producing fields and small to medium sized

discoveries/developments.  Tellus will work the assets technically and

commercially together with the operators, partners and suppliers to mature

discoveries into production, including time critical satellite tie-backs to

existing infrastructure and contribute to improved area solutions.

    About Wintershall Holding  

    Wintershall Holding GmbH, based in Kassel, Germany, is a wholly-owned

subsidiary of BASF in Ludwigshafen. The company has been active in the

extraction of natural resources for 120 years, and in the exploration and

production of crude oil and natural gas for over 80 years. Wintershall focuses

on selected core regions where the company has built up a high level of

regional and technological expertise. These are Europe, Russia, North Africa,

South America, and increasingly the Middle East region. The company wants to

expand its business further with exploration and production, selected

partnerships, innovation and technological competence. Wintershall employs some

2,500 staff worldwide from 40 nations and is now Germany's largest,

internationally active crude oil and natural gas producer

    About the fields in the transaction

    Knarr

    The Knarr oil and gas field is located in the North Tampen area, 40km north

of the Snorre field with the initial discovery in 2008 and Knarr West in 2011.

The field is operated by BG Group (45 %) and partners are Idemitsu (25 %),

Wintershall (20 %) and Dea (10 %). The field is developed by subsea templates

tied-in to a FPSO leased from Teekay and started production in March 2015. The

FPSO has a production capacity of 63,000 bbl of oil per day, and the water

depth is 400 m. The oil and gas is being produced from lower Jurassic

sandstones in the Cook formation at some 3,800 m. The proven and probable

reserves in Knarr is 85 mill boe according to the NPD website. Ownership

interest in the Knarr Gas Pipeline (20 %) is included in the transaction.

    Maria

    The Maria field is located in the Haltenbanken area of the Norwegian Sea.

Wintershall is the Operator of the field and will retain the largest interests

(35%) and operatorship post transaction. The other partner are Petoro (30 %)

and Centrica (20 %). The Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) was submitted

to the Ministry of Petroleum of Energy 5th May 2015. The Maria development

solution is a subsea tie-back to the Kristin platform with two templates, two

producers and one injector on each template with injection water from Heidrun

and gas lift fromAsgard via Tyrihans. Oil will be exported via existing

pipeline from Kristin to Asgard C storage ship where it is blended and

offloaded to shuttle tankers. Rich gas exported via Gassled to Kastro and

further as dry gas to the European market. Capex is estimated at NOK 15.3 bn

and production is planned to commence 1st October 2018. Peak production is

expected to 41,000 boe per day and gross proven and probable reserves is 190

mill boe according to NPD.

    Ivar Aasen

    The Ivar Aasen oil field is located in the northern part of the North Sea,

northwest of the Johan Sverdrup field. The partners are Det norske (operator

34.8%), Statoil (41.5 %), Bayerngas (12.3 %), Wintershall (6.5 %), VNG Norge

(3.0 %), Lundin (1.4%) and OMV (0.6 %). Production is planned to commence in

October 2016 and Ivar Aasen will be developed with a 4 legged Steel Jacket

platform and topside facilities include 1st stage separation, produced water

treatment, water injection system, living quarter, and utility and safety

systems. Power and gas lift will be provided by the neighbouring Lundin

operated Edvard Grieg platform. A total of 7 producers and 6 injectors (all

platform wells) are planned and oil and gas will be exported to the Edvard

Grieg platform via pipeline and further onwards to the Grane Oil Pipeline (to

the Sture terminal) and gas via the SAGE system to the UK. Peak production is

estimated at 65,000 boe per day and gross reserves are 189 million boe

according to NPD. Ownership interests in the Utsira High Gas Pipeline (3.8769%)

and the Edvard Grieg Oil Pipeline (2.5846%) is included in the transaction.

    Veslefrikk   

    The Veslefrikk oil and gas field is located in the northern part of the

North Sea, about 30km north of Oseberg and was discovered in 1981 in the

Jurassic Veslefrikk reservoir at depths of 2,800-3,200m. The field is developed

with two facilities that are bridge-linked, Veslefrikk A that is a steel jacket

wellhead and drilling platform and Veslefrikk B a semi-submersible living

quarter and processing platform.  The field commenced production in 1989. The

field is on the tail-end and has started gas blow down. Partners are Statoil

(operator, 18.0 %), Petoro (37.0 %), Talisman (27.0 %), Dea (13.5%) and

Wintershall (4.5 %). Remaining reserves are 34 million boe according to NPD.

    Exploration licenses

    10 % in PL 611 with an exploration well on the Kvalross prospect planned to

be drilled in the Barents Sea in 2015

40 % equity in PL 457 in the Ivar Aasen area

Working interests in five production licenses in the Maria area; PL475 (10%),

PL 475D (10%), PL 590 (5%), PL 590B (5%), and PL 638 (16%).

    Sequa Petroleum N.V.              

    23 Savile Row

    London W1S 2ET

    T +44(0)20-3728-4450

    SOURCE: Sequa Petroleum N.V.