Tamarind’s New Zealand subsidiary goes into voluntary administration

The New Zealand subsidiary of Malaysia’s energy company Tamarind Resources has gone into voluntary administration due to an “unsustainable financial position.”

Illustration; Image: Tamarind
Illustration; Image: Tamarind

Tamarind said on Tuesday that Jason Kardachi and Mitchell Mansfield of Borrelli Walsh were appointed as administrators of Tamarind Taranaki on Monday, November 11.

“The appointment of the administrators is as a result of a number of commercial factors including a deterioration in oil price amongst others affecting the performance of the company, which has contributed to the company’s current financial position being unsustainable absent a restructuring,” Tamarind stated.

According to the company, the administrators will be directly controlling the assets, operations, books, and records of Tamarind Taranaki during the administration period.

The purpose of the voluntary administration is to seek to maximize the prospects of the company continuing its business or if this is not possible, to achieve a better return for creditors than would result from an immediate liquidation.

The effect of the appointment of administrators is to place a moratorium on the payment of creditors up to the date of appointment.

The administrators will propose to creditors a deed of company arrangement (DOCA), which will be voted on by all creditors. The proposed DOCA will set out a detailed plan for the repayment of outstanding creditors to the extent this is supportable by available funding and the continuing business of the company.

Tamarind in October terminated a contract for the BW Offshore-owned FPSO Umuroa, operating at its Tui field in New Zealand.

The vessel owner said it would seek to recover all outstanding hire from Tamarind Resources and its parent company under the provisions of the existing contracts.

Also, it is worth reminding that Tamarind put a stop to its New Zealand offshore drilling plans at the Tui oil field in the Taranaki Basin after being unable to reach an agreement with offshore drilling contractor COSL in mid-September.

Offshore Energy Today reached out to the administrators of Tamarind Taranaki to see how the administration would influence the drilling plans on the Tui field. We will edit the article with additional information if and when we receive a response.

The Tui Area Oil Project constitutes three fields, Tui, Amokura, and Pateke, which started production on July 30, 2007, and produce from four horizontal wells flowing to the FPSO Umuroa. The oil is processed on the Umuroa before being exported via export tankers destined for refineries on Australia’s eastern seaboard. The FPSO has a storage capacity of 700,000 barrels of stabilized crude oil.

The Tui area was previously operated by AWE until Tamarind took over operatorship in March 2017.


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