Savannah Energy PLC signs Share Purchase Agreements with Exxon Mobil Corporation and PETRONAS (E&P) Overseas Ventures

Savannah Energy PLC announced that it has signed a Share Purchase Agreement (“SPA”) with Exxon Mobil Corporation, ExxonMobil International Holdings, Inc. and Esso Exploration Holdings, Inc. (“Exxon”) and has separately signed an SPA with PETRONAS (E&P) Overseas Ventures SDN. BHD. (“PETRONAS (E&P) Overseas Ventures”) relating to the purchase of each of their entire upstream and midstream asset portfolios in Chad and Cameroon (respectively, the “Exxon Acquisition” and the “PETRONAS Acquisition”).

The SPAs both have an economic effective date of 1 January 2021. This follows Savannah’s initial announcement on 2 June 2021 regarding the proposed transaction with Exxon, and Savannah’s earlier announcements on Tuesday regarding the Exxon Acquisition and the PETRONAS Acquisition.

 

Completion of both the Exxon Acquisition and the PETRONAS Acquisition would result in the Company acquiring a 75% controlling interest in the Doba Oil Project and an effective c. 70% indirect controlling interest in the Chad-Cameroon export transportation system.

 

The remaining 25% interest in the Doba Oil Project  is held by the national oil company of Chad, SHT Petroleum Chad Company Limited (“SHT”).

The remaining 30% interest in the Chad-Cameroon export transportation system is held indirectly by affiliates of SHT together with the Republic of Chad and the national oil company of Cameroon, Société Nationale Des Hydrocarbures.

For reference, in 2020 the Doba Oil Project produced an average gross 33.7 Kbopd and the Chad-Cameroon pipeline transported a gross129.2Kbopd.

 

Due to their size and nature ,both the Exxon acquisition and the PETRONAS acquisition individually constitute reverse takeover transactions pursuant to AIM Rule 14 and, accordingly will be subject to, inter alia, shareholder approval.

The Company intends to publish the associated AIM Admission Document,which will contain a notice of general meeting, on or around 17 December 2021, following which point the Company would seek restoration to trading on AIM of its ordinaryshares.

 

Andrew Knott, Chief Executive Officer, commented:“IamdelightedthatweareannouncingthisafternoonthesignatureofSPAstoacquirecontrol oftheupstreamandmidstreamassetsofExxonandPETRONASinChadandCameroon.These assetshavegeneratedbillionsofdollarsofcriticaltaxrevenuesfortheirhostcountriesandfree cash flow to their owners since the onset of first oil production in 2003. Further, under our stewardship, we expect these assets in aggregate to generate positive free cash flow and fiscal revenues for Chad and Cameroon for a further twenty-five plus years.