Oil Firm Boosted By New Siberian Licence
Posted on: Wednesday, 23 July 2008, 00:00 CDT
OIL producer Imperial Energy has been given a boost after receiving a new production licence for its work in west Siberia for the next 20 years.
The mid-sized oil firm, which owns a number of oil licences in the west Siberian region of Tomsk, was granted the licence until July 10, 2028.
The company said the news highlights its focus on upgrading its exploration licences.
The new licence covers the Golovnoye field, which is held by Sibinterneft, a subsidiary of Imperial.
Last week, Leeds-based Imperial revealed it has received a bid approach from an unnamed company
The firm said it was holding discussions about a cash offer at Pounds 12.90 per share, valuing Imperial at Pounds 1.32bn.
Insiders have confirmed the bidder as Indian-based Oil and Natural Gas Company.
The deal would mark the Indian company's second investment in resource-rich Russia as it is already a partner in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas consortium headed by United States giant Exxon.
Imperial has said it could sign a strategic deal with a big Russian partner this year to support the company's ambitious growth plans.
Imperial aims to produce 25,000 barrels per day by the end of the year and hopes to produce 35,000 barrels per day by the end of 2009, increasing to 80,000 barrels per day by 2011.
In a trading update last month, Imperial said its first six- month production levels had been disappointing, but it was confident of significant growth in the second half of the year.
In April, the firm ditched a planned debt financing as a result of the global credit crisis and issued shares instead to raise the cash.
Surging oil prices mean that oil companies have had little difficulty raising cash for projects.
(c) 2008 Yorkshire Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Yorkshire Post
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