Savannah Energy PLC, the British independent energy company focuses on the delivery of projects that matter in Africa, has announced the completion of its acquisition of ExxonMobil’s entire upstream and midstream asset portfolio in Chad and Cameroon. The deal includes the operators of the upstream assets (through the acquisition of the former operator, Esso Exploration and Production Chad, Inc.), also known as the “ExxonMobil Transaction”.
Savannah also announced the publication of a Supplemental Admission Document in relation to the ExxonMobil transaction.
This follows Savannah’s 13th December 2021 announcement of the signing of a Share Purchase Agreement with ExxonMobil, which has an economic effective date of 1st January 2021, and the publication of its 31st December 2021 Admission Document containing details on the ExxonMobil transaction.
The ExxonMobil transaction constituted a reverse takeover transaction pursuant to AIM Rule 14 and, accordingly, was subject to shareholder approval which was granted on 24th January 2022. The ExxonMobil transaction has now been completed.
Re-admission of the share capital of the group as enlarged by the ExxonMobil transaction is scheduled to take place at 8.00 am on Tuesday.
Following the completion of the ExxonMobil transaction, Savannah now owns a 40 percent interest in the Doba Oil project and an effective c. 40 percent indirect interest in the Chad-Cameroon export transportation system:
- The Doba Oil Project comprises interests in seven producing fields – Kome, Miandoum, Bolobo, Moundouli, Maikeri, Nya and Timbre – with a combined gross 2P Reserve base of 142.3 MMbbls as of 1st October 2022 and expected 2022 gross production of 28.0 Kbopd; and
- The Chad-Cameroon export transportation system comprises a 1,081 km pipeline and the Kome Kribi 1 floating storage and offloading facility, offshore Cameroon (along with all associated facilities). The Chad/Cameroon pipeline is 30” in diameter with a nameplate capacity of 250 Kbopd and an estimated pipeline throughput in 2022 of 124 Kbopd, from more than 15 fields
The company’s proposed acquisition of PETRONAS (E&P) Overseas Ventures SDN. BHD.’s interests in the same assets in Chad and Cameroon is not a condition of the ExxonMobil Transaction.
CEO of Savannah Energy, Andrew Knott said: “We are delighted to announce the completion of our US$407 million acquisition of ExxonMobil’s upstream and midstream businesses in Chad and Cameroon. I would like to warmly welcome our new employees to the Savannah family and look forward to building our in-country businesses with them as we embrace the multiple growth opportunities available to us.
“In Chad, our focus will immediately turn towards making the investments we believe the Doba Oil project needs to significantly increase production volumes from current levels and the advancement of our up to US$500m/500 MW of renewable power projects. We expect our investments in these projects to provide significant increased tax revenues and electricity access for the people of Chad. In Cameroon, we hope to see the COTCo and TOTCo businesses grow further over the course of the coming years through additional third-party customer throughput volumes. We are also actively considering investments in other opportunities to pursue projects that matter in country.
“Outside of Chad and Cameroon, we expect that, in the coming months, we will further augment our corporate growth profile through the announcement of additional hydrocarbon asset acquisitions and the initiation of new utility-scale renewable energy projects (in addition to our existing up to 750 MW project scale renewable energy projects).
“Lastly, I would like to use opportunity to express my gratitude to all those who contributed to the successful completion of this transaction and, in particular, our host country stakeholders, my incredibly dedicated and passionate colleagues and the ExxonMobil deal and in-country teams. Thank you all”.
The company’s issued share capital currently comprises 1,306,098,819 ordinary shares. Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange plc for re-admission of the company’s 1,306,098,819 ordinary shares to trading on AIM, which is expected to take place at 8.00 am on 13th December 2022.
According to a statement by Savannah Energy’s Communications Manager Okwudili Onyia, since the company does not hold any shares in treasury, the 1,306,098,819 ordinary shares may continue to be used by shareholders in the company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the company under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Savannah Energy also announced that the appointments of Sarah Clark and Dr Djamila Ferdjani as Non-Executive Directors of the Board, which it said would become effective on the completion of the ExxonMobil transaction. It added that the appointment of Sylvie Rucar has been delayed due to personal reasons and is now anticipated to become effective early next year.
A former British, European and Commonwealth judo champion, Clark was an elite level athlete for 18 years who competed at three Olympic Games for Great Britain. She is currently CEO of Edinburgh Judo, one of the UK’s largest, most successful, and fastest growing judo clubs catering for beginners to Olympic medallists. She currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of Judo Scotland (the governing body for judo in Scotland).
Clark has worked extensively in mentor, role model and leadership positions with organisations such as the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, the Youth Sport Trust and the Winning Scotland Foundation. In these roles, her focus has been to deliver personal and group development programmes to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities.
She has also worked extensively with individuals and companies delivering programmes around the positive learnings businesses can take from the elite level sport world.
Ferdjani is a medical doctor, entrepreneur and social activist. She founded the Pro-Santé Polyclinic in Niger Republic, of which she was President and CEO. She formerly served as a technical consultant to the Islamic Development Bank and as a Professor of Health Prevention and Promotion at the African Development University.
Ferdjani is a founding Board member of Afrikajom (the leading Pan African human rights focused think tank) and is the founder and President of MedCom NGO (a Niger focused medical and educational NGO). She is a former member of the executive committee of the Orange Niger Foundation.
She regularly speaks at African focused Human Rights events, including those organised by the World Bank, Oxfam, Plan International, the G5 Sahel, The Open Society Initiative for West Africa, the National Democratic Institute and TEDx.
Ferdjani has been named by the United Nations Population Fund as one of the 100 women leaders in Niger and by Facebook as one of 19 African LeadHERs breaking boundaries in the fields of media, entertainment, education and business.
