Hibiscus Petroleum buys Talisman unit for US$ 18 million

Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd is buying Talisman Pty Ltd, which includes a 25% stake in the Kitan producing oilfield in the Timor Sea for US$ 18 million.

The company announced that the Kitan oilfield would contribute significant net cash in the second half of 2014. At current oil prices, this will allow Hibiscus to book its first operating profit in 2014.

Remaining reserves

The Kitan field was discovered in 2008 and started production in 2011. Wood Mackenzie estimates 17 million barrels of remaining reserves on 1 January 2014 (4.25 million barrels net to Hibiscus).

The average production rate in 2014 is expected to be 10 000 bpd of oil of which 2500 bpd of oil would be net to Hibiscus due to its 25% stake in Talisman Pty Ltd which was acquired from Talisman Energy Inc.

"The acquisition is being funded using the equity capital raised through the conversion of Hibiscus warrants which are due for conversion by July 2014," it said.

The Kitan oilfield is operated by Italian integrated energy company Eni. The field is in the Bonaparte Basin within the Australia-Timor Leste Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) about 550 km north east of Darwin, Australia.

Subsea production

The field is developed by a subsea production system with three subsea wells tied back to the Glas Dowr floating production storage offloading unit (FPSO).

Eni owns a 40% stake in the asset while the remaining 35% is held by Japanese oil and gas exploration & production (E&P) company, Inpex Corporation.

Under the deal, Hibiscus Petroleum will acquire Talisman's stake of the oilfield with an effective date of 1 January 2014 with all existing assets and liabilities as

Adapted from press release by Cecilia Rehn

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/23062014/hibiscus_petroleum_buys_talisman_unit_for_us_18_million/