Offshore staff
(Asia-Pacific) - Salamander Energy Ltd., an independent private E&P company operating exclusively in Southeast Asia, has signed a sales and purchase agreement to acquire a 2.5% working interest in two Indonesian oil and gas production sharing contracts (PSCs), from Citigroup Financial Products Inc. and has raised $75 million of additional capital.
Spread over 90 oil fields in three basins, Salamander's working interest in the offshore North West Java and South East Sumatra assets will add approximately 12.5 MMboe to Salamander's 2P reserves and 3,300 boe/d production.
From its new regional base in Singapore, Salamander is building a broad E&P portfolio in Southeast Asia and views the acquisition of these core assets, positioned in the heart of the Indonesian production base as an important step in underpinning its regional strategy.
Salamander's other major assets include a 9.5% stake in the Phu Horm onshore gas field in Northern Thailand, which is operated by Amerada Hess, and a 27.2% stake in the surrounding exploration acreage which is showing early signs of significant potential.
Production from the Phu Horm field is scheduled to commence in 4Q 2006 while the Indonesian fields are already in production.
James Menzies, Salamander's co-founder and CEO, says, "The upstream oil and gas industry in Southeast Asia is in the early stages of transformation and Salamander plans to be at the forefront.
"We are aggressively pursuing exploration and appraisal opportunities in the region where the management at Salamander see great potential for a well financed, agile and focused independent E&P company."
Founded in 2005, Salamander, is incorporated in the UK and has offices in Singapore and London.
It is backed by equity investors, including the UK's 3i and Australia's Macquarie and is solely focused on building a broad-based E&P business in Southeast Asia.
02/03/06
