Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Hamilton, Bermuda, 2 March 2023: Seacrest Petroleo Bermuda Limited (“Seacrest Petroleo” and the “Company”, OSE ticker code “SEAPT”) notes that on 1 March 2023 Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (“Petrobras”) filed a Form 6-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in which Petrobras disclosed that on 28 February 2023 it received a letter from the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) requesting that Petrobras suspend all asset sales for a 90 day period to enable a Brazilian government energy policy review.
The Company not yet received any official communication from Petrobras in relation to any suspension of the Norte Capixaba acquisition.
On 23 February 2022, through a wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary, Seacrest Petroleo entered into a binding purchase agreement to acquire from Petrobras the assets that compose the Norte Capixaba cluster. The Company has received all necessary environmental and other regulatory approvals for the transaction and expected to close the Norte Capixaba acquisition in the period following its successful IPO, which was completed on 21 February 2023. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, the long stop date for the transaction has automatically been extended to 23 August 2023. The 1 July 2022 effective date under the purchase agreement remains unchanged, and upon closing the Company will have the benefit of the revenues generated by the Norte Capixaba assets since that date.
“The Company is committed to working with Petrobras to enable the Norte Capixaba acquisition to be completed without undue delay,” said Michael Stewart, Seacrest Petroleo CEO.
It is anticipated that that the MME’s general suspension request may result in a delay to the consummation of the Norte Capixaba acquisition, but that preparations for closing will continue. The suspension request does not affect the Company’s ongoing operation of the Cricaré Cluster, its current financial obligations or its committed debt financing arrangements.
Seacrest Petroleo will keep the market updated on developments relating to the suspension request when and if appropriate.
For further information, please contact:
Torgeir Dagsleth, Chief Financial Officer
Seacrest Petroleo Bermuda Limited
Tel. +47 958 91 970
E-mail: torgeir.dagsleth@seacrest.com
Crux Advisers AS is acting as communications and investor relations adviser.
Senior Advisor Jan Petter Stiff
Crux Advisers AS
Tel. +47 995 13891
E-mail: jps@crux.no
About Seacrest Petroleo:
Seacrest Petroleo is an independent oil and gas production company with an integrated portfolio of onshore producing oil fields and export infrastructure onshore in Espírito Santo, Brazil. The fields have estimated oil and gas in place volumes of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalents and certified 2P reserves of 140 million barrels of oil equivalents. Current production is 7,000 bbl/d which is expected to triple by 2025. The Company has exclusive control over its infrastructure, continuously from field production to offshore tanker loading terminal, allowing for cost-effective operations, and enabling direct access to markets for its premium grade products. The Company has offices in Bermuda, Norway and Brazil.