Predator Oil & Gas sets sights on monetising Trinidad and Ireland prospects
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings today outlined plans to generate cash for investors after successfully funding its short and medium-term operations in its recent listing on the London Stock Exchange.
The new listing, formed to take advantage of drilling prospects in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, raised £1.3m through its May IPO, and has seen its share price rise from its 2.8p debut to 3.8p at the close of the market last week.
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While today’s half-year results show it has made a loss of £153,979, the new venture is confident of returning value to shareholders through multiple projects it is set to embark on in Trinidad and Ireland.
In Trinidad it aims to begin carbon dioxide injection work to achieve higher production rates when drilling the Inniss-Trinity oil field with FRAM Exploration.
The pair reached an agreement at the end of July to delay Predator’s participation in drilling the oil field by 12 months to focus on the project, which will see it inject 60 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide into the field.
By doing so, Predator hopes to establish itself as Trinidad’s main pathfinder for carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR), a process designed to improve yields from oil reservoirs by pumping carbon dioxide into the reservoirs to force the oil to expand, making it reach production wells more easily.
This onshore project should help the company achieve early cash flow, it believes, while it also plans to drill gas assets located offshore Ireland, where it hopes to mine its network of industry contacts to bring in partners to help it unlock the potential of large-scale gas prospects, such as Corrib South well, which it plans to begin drilling in 2020.
Sarah Cope, non-executive chairman, said:
"The past few months have been a busy and transformational period for Predator. We have successfully built a business with a material portfolio of assets. We are excited to have entered Trinidad, an emerging area for CO2 EOR operations, which is proven technology currently delivering significant production from mature fields in the US. As we are moving into the next stage of growth, our CO2 EOR operations are fully funded thanks to the capital raised this year.
“Management's long track record offshore Ireland as gas explorers and producers, has allowed us to create a portfolio of attractive gas assets, including discovered gas adjacent to infrastructure, that differentiates Predator as the leading company offshore Ireland in relation to developing near-term indigenous gas resources to address fears over security of gas supply.”
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