Predator Oil & Gas Holdings, the Jersey-based Oil and Gas Company with near-term hydrocarbon operations and production activities focussed on Morocco and Trinidad, has provided an update on its acquisition of the Challenger Energy Group's entire operations in Trinidad and Tobago.
- In February 2025 the Company entered into an agreement for the acquisition of the entirety of the Challenger Energy Group's ("Seller") operations in Trinidad and Tobago (refer to the Company's RNS of 18 February 2025). The agreement provided for the regulatory approval necessary for closing of the sale to be finalised by 30 April 2025. This date was extended to 30 June 2025, following the parties administrative closing uncertainty due to the snap-election called in Trinidad and Tobago in mid-March and the resulting change in Government in May 2025.
- The Company and the Seller have since made substantial progress in terms of satisfying requirements for the grant of the necessary regulatory approval, albeit the process has not fully finalised. The parties have thus agreed to further extend the date for closing of the sale and purchase transaction to 7 days after the granting of regulatory approval, with a revised longstop date of 30 August 2025.
- In anticipation of completion in the near term, the Company and the Seller have commenced working collaboratively on the ground in Trinidad, so as to ensure a smooth and efficient transfer of ownership and operations once final regulatory approval is obtained.
Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive of Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc commented:
'Over the last two months we have been carrying out an internal technical and commercial re-assessment of the Company's diverse portfolio of assets in Morocco and Trinidad. This has taken into account prevailing uncertainty in terms of equity market volatility, crude oil price fluctuations and unstable foreign exchange markets. All of these factors combine to under-value early stage oil and gas exploration, appraisal and development.
Following this review the Company is focussed going forward on preserving its cash; maintain its debt-free status; increasing its portfolio of producing assets in Trinidad; financing and monetising its near-term oil and gas development projects at minimal cost to the Company; and maintaining third party-funded future "blue sky" exploration potential for gas and helium.
Acquisition of the CEG operations in Trinidad will facilitate production growth and revenue generation through integration with our existing production operations to deliver economies of scale.
Preparations and planning are ongoing to drill the Snowcap-3 well in Q1 2026. A rig has been identified and subject to certification a rig contract will be entered into. The Snowcap-3 appraisal well is targeting the best producing sand in BP's former Moruga West field 1.5 kilometres southeast of the Snowcap-3 proposed well location. In Moruga West individual wells have flowed initially at up to 303 bopd from this single interval with maximum well recovery for a single well of 455,000 barrels of oil over field life has been achieved. Snowcap-3 is therefore a key well for boosting our producing portfolio and can potentially be tied in quickly and at low cost to enable early monetisation. There are several options to organically-finance the well later this year through an asset sale and/or partnering with a local company.
In Morocco we will update the market this month on the execution of the testing programme for the shallow "A Sand" in MOU-3, for which we are fully-funded. We will announce a collaboration agreement for the design, financing and execution of the initial phase of the MOU-3 development upon publication of the test results. We anticipate first gas sales by the end of 2026 subject to all the usual caveats of regulatory approval and technical due diligence.
We are completing our review of the MOU-5 drilling results and will be updating the market on progress after the testing of MOU-3 has been completed.
MOU-5 is an important well as it has introduced a completely different understanding of the key Mesozoic section on the flanks of the Guercif biogenic gas system and thus what might be under it as well. As a result there is potential to be investigated and refined for a deeper, large Triassic objective under MOU-5, analogous to the geological settings of the Meskala, Tendrara and Hassi R'Mel (Algeria) gas fields, albeit up to 1,000 metres shallower which should enhance possible reservoir quality. This is in addition to the original primary objective in MOU-5 of the Jurassic Domerian carbonate bank, which can be evaluated updip to MOU-5.
The Company intends to maintain interest in the "blue sky" MOU-5 updip and deeper potential through a farmout process to be initiated in Q3 2025, with the intention of securing a carried interest in a 3D seismic programme over the MOU-5 structure in 2026.
The MOU-5 helium chromatograph show and the helium analysed in a gas sample in MOU-3 has now been put into compelling structural context in terms of the geological model for helium generation.
Satellite remote sensing for helium and gravity/magnetic modelling of the possible helium source below MOU-5 is in progress and is fully-funded.
Upon the completion of these desktop studies the Company will seek a farmout to secure a carried interest in a dedicated helium well to be provisionally drilled in 2026. There is no certainty that a farmout can be achieved but the Company anticipates that it may enter into a helium collaboration agreement beforehand, given the attractive attributes of the MOU-5 structure as a potential helium target.
We thank shareholders for their patience over the last few months during a period of volatility in global markets and the resulting negative impact on shareholder values. Our focus has been on strengthening our multiple projects to create potential growth in shareholder value over the next 12 months. This is by no means a certainty as market conditions are beyond the control of management. However maintaining a debt-free status and increasing production revenues provides an important financial safety net.'
See also, Challenger announcement: Challenger Energy - Trinidad Sale Update
Source: Predator Oil & Gas
