Canadian oil and gas firm becoming sole owner of Thai subsidiary

Canada-headquartered upstream oil and gas company Valeura Energy is acquiring the remaining minority interest in its special purpose vehicle subsidiary company Valeura Energy Asia Pte. Ltd, which holds all of the company’s assets in Thailand.

Through a share exchange agreement (SEA), Valeura will acquire a 12.5 per cent ownership stake held by the minority owners of the special purpose vehicle company, resulting in it becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Valeura, and thereby increasing its effective interest in its entire Thailand portfolio. 

As consideration, the Canadian company will issue to the minority shareholders an aggregate of 9.5 million common shares in Valeura.

Under the terms of the SEA, 50 per cent of the shares to be issued will be prohibited from being sold for a period of four months, with the remaining half restricted from sale for a period of nine months, without otherwise obtaining consent from Valeura.

The special purpose vehicle company was formed to conduct business development work in Asia over the 2021-2023 time frame and was a key construct in negotiating two Gulf of Thailand acquisitions, Sean Guest, President and CEO of Valeura, said.

“Looking forward, our strong preference is to proceed with our subsidiary interests unencumbered, and to streamline our external reporting,” Guest said.

“In return for the issuance of 9.5 million shares, representing approximately 9.4% of the enlarged share capital of Valeura, the Company’s increased ownership stake in the entire Thailand portfolio results in a 14.3% increase in all reserves and production.  As such, this transaction is materially value accretive to our shareholders.”

In a separate statement, Valeura announced that the modifications to the MT Jaka Tarub crude oil storage vessel have been completed, making the vessel compatible with the infrastructure of the Wassana field in the Gulf of Thailand and capable of tandem crude oil loading/offloading. 

Subject to favorable metocean conditions, the vessel is set to arrive at the field in the coming days, after which the company plans to resume oil production operations, targeting initial rates of up to 3,000 bbls/d, net to the 89 per cent working interest share held by Valeura Energy Asia.

To remind, at the end of 2022, Valeura Energy Asia entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Mubadala Petroleum to acquire the upstream oil-producing assets of its Busrakham Oil and Gas subsidiary.

The deal entails operated interests in three offshore licenses in the Gulf of Thailand, which collectively produce approximately 21,200 bbls/d of oil, net to the interest being acquired.