Company news in April 2004 | |||
Verkhnechonskneftegaz to Raise US$19 Million by Placing Shares
Verkhnechonskneftegaz OJSC (Irkutsk Region) will raise US $19 million by placing an additional issue by the end of the year, a news release of TNK-BP''s (the major shareholder of the joint-stock company) Irkutsk rep office announces. The plan is to channel raised funds towards funding operations as part of the Verkhnechonsk oil and gas condensate field development in 2004/2005. Shares of the new issue will be privately placed among the company''s shareholders, Mr. Maxim Bezriadin, General Manager of Verkhnechonskneftegaz, explained. An insignificant portion of funds will be funneled to increase the company''s capital stock. The news release goes that Verkhnechonskneftegaz Board of Directors approved of the action plan and the 2004 budget of the company on March 25, 2004. The principal corporate objectives will be to specify geological structure and geological/technological model of the Verkhnechonsk deposit, to draft beta-testing and landscaping projects for the deposit, as part of performing the license agreement this year. Total costs of Verkhnechonskneftegaz are planned at US$ 7.67 million in 2004. As was announced earlier, Verkhnechonskneftegaz spent approx. US$ 2.5 million to develop the Verkhnechonsk deposit in 2003, greatly exceeding its expenditures in 2002. Funds were mostly channeled towards drafting technical documents and the well examination program. Extracted reserves of the Verkhnechonsk deposit make 201.6 million tons of oil, 95.5 billion cm of gas, and 3.3 million tons of gas condensate. Verkhnechonskneftegaz JSC was registered in May 2002 as a 100% subsidiary of RUSIA Petroleum. In August 2002, the license for hydrocarbon extraction and prospecting of the Verkhnechonsk oil, gas, and condensate deposit was re-registered in the name of the company. In December 2003, RUSIA Petroleum JSC finalizes sales of Verkhnechonskneftegaz shares to its shareholders. Upon consummation of the transactions, major shareholders of Verkhnechonskneftegaz are BP (33.55%), TNK (29.16%), Interros (25.94%), and the Irkutsk Region Administration (11.29%).
Source: INTERFAX