Bowleven announces 2H19 interim results

Highlights

• Continued progress on Etinde development options and working with joint venture (JV) partners towards agreeing Final Investment Decision (FID) in late 2020.
• Lead contractor appointed to manage the FEED process.
• TechnipFMC are expected to commence project activity in early April, with a planned duration of five to eight months.
• Letter of Intent (LOI) signed between Victoria Oil & Gas Plc and New Age (African Global Energy) Ltd, for the supply of gas from the Etinde field, offshore Cameroon.
• Ongoing market volatility, caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic and the recent fall in global oil prices could potentially have an adverse effect on the Etinde project timeline.

Operational

Etinde

• The JV partners are proceeding with:
- FEED related processes
- Continuing commercial activities focused around a liquids-based development alongside discussion of sales terms with potential gas, condensate and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) off-takers
- Preparatory steps for raising development finance, potentially on a jointly funded basis, to implement the Etinde development project

• Reprocessing seismic data relating to the IE/ID/IB/IC areas of Etinde.

Bomono

• Discussions with the Government of Cameroon and Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH) to finalise the closing position and return the licence to the State are ongoing.

Corporate

• Group cash balance at 31 December 2019 was circa US$10.9 million with a further US$2.3 million held in financial investments with no debt and material financial commitments.
• A bank guarantee relating to the deposit of US$0.5 million is due to end shortly and we expect this amount will be added to our free cash resources shortly.
• Bowleven considers the value of cash and investment of US$13.7 million to be sufficient to meet the Group’s financial requirements until FID on Etinde is reached.
• The loss for the six month period was US$1.4 million compared to US$1.4 million in the equivalent period last year.

Eli Chahin, CEO of Bowleven plc, said: “During the period, we were pleased with the progress made towards achieving FID at Etinde. We advanced a number of important project related work streams, including; appointing a lead FEED contractor, assessing commercial arrangements for the produced condensate and gas, and reviewing potential financing options for the project.

At a time of considerable market turbulence, we are fortunate to benefit from a robust financial position, with in excess of US$10 million of cash on the balance sheet and no debt. Coupled with our low cost base, we are well funded to reach FID, after which we will receive US$25 million from the JV partners.

Despite the solid progress Bowleven has been making, recent macro conditions have the potential to impact the timing of the Etinde project. As a business, we will continue to work towards achieving FID before year-end and we look forward to keeping all of our stakeholders appraised on progress over the coming months.”

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/30032020/bowleven-announces-2h19-interim-results/