Lekoil makes payment towards OML 113 acquisition

Lekoil said it had made a payment toward its acquisition of a stake in Nigeria’s Oil Mining Lease (OML) 113. The acquisition will be from a subsidiary of Panoro Energy earning it a 6.502 percent participating interest in the Nigerian asset for a consideration of $30 million.

Lekoil has made a payment of $3 million as part of the consideration to Panoro. Lekoil and Panoro have agreed that the company will fund the escrow with the balance of the consideration on or before October 31. The company is in advanced discussions with potential debt providers to fund the balance of the consideration.

There has been an addendum to the bid bond which will allow Panoro to draw an additional $3 million if the escrow is not funded by October 31. In the event that the consideration has not been paid by the October 31 deadline, Panoro may elect to grant another extension or terminate the SPA, retaining the $3 million bid bond and $3 million down payment.

The closing date of the transaction is expected to be November 9.

Lekan Akinyanmi, Lekoil’s chief executive officer, said: “We remain excited by the prospects for our assets and the progress that we have made on financing OML113. We look forward to completing the transaction and building out a robust portfolio of assets that leverages our technical study of the Dahomey Basin and the discovery in the neighboring OPL 310.”

By: FEMI ASU