Malaysian oil and gas company Hibiscus Petroleum has confirmed it has agreed to buy Repsol’s interest in oil and gas assets in Malaysia and Vietnam for $212.5 million.
The announcement comes after Repsol earlier this week announced the sale to Hibiscus, to focus on core markets, without sharing financial details.
In a stock exchange announcement Friday, Hibiscus said it would pay $212.5 million to Repsol for the acquisition of Repsol's subsidiary Fortuna International Petroleum Corporation, which owns stakes in four offshore blocks in Malaysia and one in Vietnam.
The transaction includes a 35% interest in PM3 CAA PSC, 60% in 2012 Kinabalu Oil PSC, 60% in PM305 PSC, 60 % in PM314 PSC, and 70% in Block 46 CN in Vietnam (a tie-back asset to the PM3 CAA production facilities).
Hibiscus described the acquisition as transformative, as it will significantly boost its oil and gas production. The Malaysian oil firm expects daily oil and condensate production will more than double from 9,000 barrels per day to 18,500 barrels per day in 2022.
Daily gas production will grow from 2 MMscf per day to 49 MMscf per day in 2022, and 2P oil and condensate reserves as at 1 January 2021 will increase from 46 MMbbl to 67 MMbbl.
Its 2P gas reserves as at January 1, 2021, will grow from 9 Bscf to 93 Bscf. "The company anticipates completing the transaction in CY2021. However, given that the effective date of the Proposed Acquisition is 1 January 2021, all economic benefits and risks from that date will accrue to Hibiscus Petroleum,“ Hibiscus Petroleum said.
Hibiscus EnegManaging Director, Dr Kenneth Pereira, said, “We are pleased to announce that after an international, competitive bidding process, we have been selected by Repsol to acquire their Malaysian and Block 46 Vietnam assets. "We would like to thank the Repsol organization and their advisors, J.P. Morgan for a well-managed process to-date.
As far as the assets are concerned, we have previously demonstrated our capability in enhancing value from acquired mature fields in Malaysia and the United Kingdom and we are motivated to repeat past, positive experiences, here.
Once completed, this acquisition will be transformational for us and bodes well for the business trajectory of Hibiscus Petroleum into its next phase of growth. I would like to add that we have a very high regard for the team at Repsol and we are looking forward to welcoming them into the Hibiscus family and working with them to further monetize opportunities within the assets."
"We would also like to place on record our thanks to industry regulators both in Malaysia and Vietnam for giving us the opportunity to acquire these assets and we look forward to strengthening our current partnership with Petronas and Petronas Carigali.
Finally, we will be enhancing our geographical footprint and entering Vietnam and thus we look forward to developing a strong working relationship with PetroVietnam, both as a regulator and as our new partner.”
These assets represent approximately 2% of Repsol’s global current net output. Repsol said earlier this week that it would use funds raised from the transaction as well as the resulting capex savings to fund core projects and new low-carbon initiatives.
As for Hibiscus, the company seems to be putting words into action after it in August 2020 said it was looking to expand its asset portfolio through acquisitions of assets with strong production potential.
Hibiscus, which owns offshore oil fields in Malaysia, Australia, and the UK North Sea, said at the time it saw an opportunity in assets that have lost some value due the oil market downturn, as well as in the fact that large players are assessing their portfolios with a view to potentially divest.