Seplat Energy Share Discussion Threads

[sunbed44] 14/4/2022 09:58

Last few top ups done for me now today. Am locked and loaded and just hope the M&A stuff comes to fruition and SEPL/NNDC end up agreeing. Trouble with this stuff is we can only be very reactive a few days after anything happens. Unfortunately still cloak and daggers in Nigeria.

[sunbed44] 14/4/2022 09:08

Very quiet here especially with the nice little rise here over the last 2 days. Hopefully we will secure the Exxon assets in Nigeria which seems to blow hot and cold according to the AI reports. Ive been quietly adding here this week and will probably continue to around 120. In the medium term Ill be hoping for an increase in yield - well that is my plan anyway. Building a very nice annual income now mainly from DEC i3E WEN and here but looking to add a couple more income stocks in 1H.

[krall] 11/4/2022 17:40

and this is short term trigger number two -

Launch of Amukpe Escravos Pipeline is now imminent

Mechanical completion in January

Hydrocarbons introduced into line in December 21

Finalising crude handling and offtake agreements

Injection expected March with first lifting by terminal
operators, Chevron, in Q2

Offers more secure and reliable route, significantly
reducing downtime and losses

Seplat Energy can send 40 kbopd through AEP
from OML 4, 38, 41

AEP opens up three possible new export routes
we can develop, detailed opposite

Would enable combination of liquids from OML 40 with
those of OML 4, 38, 41

[krall] 11/4/2022 16:58

Dont think we have to wait long now for more info, a very nice 100 mbarrels onshore contribution 6 km from tie-in, if testing proves good,there will be a follow up well this year according to last CC. Very underradar -

Sibiri exploration well drilled to TD in February
-
Initial indications eight oil bearing reservoirs encountered
-
353ft gross hydrocarbon pay
-
229ft net pay
-
Further data acquisition and analysis is ongoing

[sunbed44] 11/4/2022 16:26

Added a few more here as i really like the growth opportunities in Nigeria for SEPL the more and more i look at them. Yeah i know theres risk only being in one country but you gotta be init to winit.

[sunbed44] 08/4/2022 12:35

Very quiet here especially as SEPL back in the running for the assts theyre after in Nigeria. By no means a done deal but chances looking a bit better than the other week. Added a few times this week as Im a bit more optimistic now. Even if we flat line and retain 7 percent dividend that suits my strategy now. New assets and capital growth would be the icing on the cake for me.

[sunbed44] 28/3/2022 14:14

Loving the rise here from around high 90s to where were at now. Sadly I called it wrong a week or two ago and took a few off the table. Oh well still have decent holding and watching very closely for next bits of news here re acquisitions. Onwards and upwards eh

[deandavison245] 26/3/2022 12:11

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

The Federal Government has raised an alarm over the rising rate of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, disclosing that about $3.27 billion worth of oil has been lost to vandalism in the past 14 months.

The government said high-level cases of oil theft have become a threat to the country's corporate and economic existence, with the industry now thinking of transporting crude oil from fields to export terminals by trucks.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in a presentation at a stakeholders' engagement on oil theft in Abuja yesterday said the government was extremely worried about the tragic situation.



The Commission disclosed that most of the crude oil losses came from Bonny Terminal Network, Forcados Terminal Network and Brass Terminal Network.

It listed factors that were aiding the criminal activities as: economic challenges, inadequate security, poor surveillance, poor community engagements, exposed facilities and stakeholder compromises.

The commission stated that due to the high level of theft, the country has been unable to meet its OPEC production quota.

Speaking on the issue, the Chief Executive of NUPRC, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe said the government was determined to end the menace so that the country can benefit from the rising price of oil and also to protect the environment from oil spills.

According to him, "the issue of oil theft has become a very worrisome issue to the government of Nigeria and I believe to you as investors too".



Engr. Komolafe stressed that it was important that the government and the oil companies' work together resolve the issue especially on the agreed volume of oil lost to vandals as the issues strike at the heart of Federation revenue.

"You will recall that in the last one week we have set up a crack team for us to determine the accurate figure because as a government we cannot continue to act on the basis of an abstract or inaccurate figure in dealing with an important issue as crude oil theft because the issue goes to the heart of Federation revenue".

He noted that "the concern of the government is to increase our national oil production. Basically, we are an oil economy and when the upstream is sick it affects the wellbeing and the health of the country.

"The situation that is happening in the upstream is getting to the level of threat to the existence and wellbeing of Nigeria. As a responsible regulator we are very concerned about it. We have been doing a lot and we are not relenting. We will do everything possible to increase oil production in a manner that will make the nation benefit from the upward swing in the international price of crude oil".



It's an organized crime - IOCs

In his remarks, the Chairman/Managing Director of ExxonMobil, Richard Laing who represented the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that though the issue was not new, it has grown from just oil theft to organized criminality with sophisticated operation.

He said: "As an industry, I know how hard my colleagues work to produce products that we need and to suffer the level of theft that we have is disheartening. But more importantly, it is a threat to investments, a threat to the health of the industry and wealth of the nation

"It is important that the stakeholders integrate their activities and their thoughts. As OPTS we have met with a number of stakeholders over the last several months and we want to make sure that whatever we do is joined up and effective.

"The language is very important and I think we use theft rather quickly. I don't think this is theft, this is organized criminal activity.

"The level of sophistication in terms of tapping into the pipelines, the distributions, efforts required to move hundreds of thousands of barrels a day isn't some guy coming along and taping into a pipeline and taking container crude oil. It is organized criminality", Laing stressed.

82% of production was stolen in February - IPPG

On its part, the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) disclosed that about 82 per cent of its oil production was stolen in the month of February 2022.

Close



Represented by the Managing Director of Waltersmith Petroman, Chikeze Nwosu, the group said the independent producers were facing existential threat.

Nwosu explained that the oil theft challenge has grown from what it used to be in the past of about 4 percent to a high of 91 percent in December, 2021.

According to him, "The TNP (Trans Niger Pipeline) is the major issue. We have seen crude theft grow from single-digit percentages to reports of 91 per cent in December for some of the operators who produce into the TNP, 75 per cent in January and the February report we got has an average of 82 per cent".

He pointed out that the situation seems to be getting worse despite all efforts to curb it. He, therefore, called for urgent action from the government and stakeholders.

Vanguard News Nigeria

[sunbed44] 15/3/2022 00:28

Got a lot of focus on shares with good capital growth potential and that either pay a dividend that should grow from here or will hopefully be doing so soon. Got decent holdings in DEC 11pc yield i3E 6.5pc yield JSE 1.75pc yield SAVE hopefully starting at 2pc next year SEPL 7pc and WEN 7pc. At least when shares dip you are automatically buying on the dips if reinvesting dividends and you get lucky with payment cycles. FAB to get strong monthly dividend at i3E who pay monthly- better than going to work LOL

[sunbed44] 13/3/2022 11:09

Anybody know why theres 5 months between SEPLs 2 divi payments last one 9/12/21 and next one 25/5/2022. Expected more of a stable 3 month gap tbh

[sunbed44] 12/3/2022 19:02

RULE OF 72 - A QUICK TIPFor those who invest for dividend yield and compound interest you may be interested in a quick and very accurate tip I have. Its called the RULE of 72.If you divide 72 by the dividend interest rate, the answer is the number of years it takes for your initial investment to double if you automatically reinvest your dividends in to shares.So if you invest £1000 in a share paying a 4% dividend the £1000 will become £2000 in 18 years - 72/4=18 years.A 2% yield would double in 36 years and a 8% yield would double in only 9 years.Just goes to show how important the yields are when looking for dividend returns being automatically reinvested.Add in a bit of capital growth along the way to a strong dividend paying stock and you can very soon make a lot of money.

[itsriskythat] 10/3/2022 16:00

Old news .. nothing new

[itsriskythat] 10/3/2022 15:49

Kyari has written to Exxon

Despite the announcement about the purported agreement with Seplat Energy, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, has written to ExxonMobil to fault the deal and to register his displeasure that NNPC, as the principal partner in the joint venture was not given the opportunity to buy over the asset.

[krall] 10/3/2022 11:44

Exxon deal, some articles.

ExxonMobil-Seplat shares deal: NNPC misfired
by News Curator | Mar 10, 2022

www.naijanewsagency.com/exxonmobil-seplat-shares-deal-nnpc-misfired/

Matters arising

In any case, the ExxonMobil-Seplat transaction is not the first in the industry in recent times. Many have wondered why the NNPC did not exercise the same pre-emption action in the divestments by SPDC.

Of recent, the NNPC, and analysts pushing its case have argued that with its transition into a registered profit-making and limited liability company vide the PIA, it was out to reshape and optimise its portfolio by acquiring assets with high performance, low vulnerability and huge gas potential. For this reason, it prioritises the acquisition of divested assets under MPNU JV over those in Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) JV.

In other words, NNPC‘s sudden interest in the deal and taking over the entire JV (if it had the legal backing) is all about the attractiveness of the assets in question. As a government-backed entity, is it not supposed to be more interested in taking over perceived more vulnerable assets with higher security and production issues? If it is only interested in ‘juicy’ fleshes of the oil and gas industry, who does it expect to deal with the hard bones?

Worse, it is not even as if the NNPC is known to run these things by itself. Most Nigerians know how and where these portfolios end up.

Besides, the NNPC does not enjoy popularity as one of the managers. As the sole importer of fuel, Nigerians are still dealing with not only intermittent biting fuel scarcity, but they are also yet to recover from the importation of toxic fuel that have wrecked vehicles and put households through hardships.

Worse, the NNPC is yet to tell Nigerians how the nation’s daily fuel consumption jumped from about 30 million litres about seven years ago to about 102 million litres and above.

Under NNPC’s watch, the refineries have degenerated from producing enough for local consumption, to producing little, and now nothing. In 2020, NNPC recorded N10.27 billion in operational expenses without refining a single drop of fuel. It is unable to fix any of the refineries, even with the award of a $1.5 billion contract last year to fix the Port Harcourt refinery.

[loglorry1] 07/3/2022 21:57

Seems that way. It is as SEPL said on the call not an issue because the they are buying all the share capital of the XOM subco. Should open strong tomorrow.

[zengas] 07/3/2022 18:53

Seems that everything is in order. Looks like the Press has gotten the wrong end of the stick or fed inaccuracies as i suspect.

[loglorry1] 07/3/2022 13:47

I guess NNPC want their pound of flesh and there is a deal to be done.

[zengas] 07/3/2022 11:53

Was over 100p 6-8 weeks ago on the back of rising oil but had fallen to 95p just pre announcement. Oil price has risen further.

There is a fair bit of production hedged that reduces by Q3. Production for 2021 was 29k oil/liquids + 18k gas. Net debt reducing and down to $426m.

This year guidance is 30-35k oil/liquids + 20-25k gas without the acquisition and also excludes the new ANOH gas plant (which is 87% ready but production slips into next year).

On the above basis alone it has to be great value with over 7% dividend on top of the growth potential and reducing net debt pile imo. The acquisition would be certainly transformational though i'm just wondering with the Q1 surge in oil prices is there the potential that the likes of NNPC or other possible bidders want to make things difficult ?

[loglorry1] 07/3/2022 11:37

I suppose the argument would be that XOM can sell their shares to anyone they want and perhaps didn't want to sell to NNPL for credit reasons etc. Although then that would be a way around pre-emption rights in any asset transfer as they could just be wrapped in a holco.

I have no idea.

[loglorry1] 07/3/2022 11:23

I think on the call after the deal was announced SEPL said that there should not be a pre-emption rights problem as the transaction was for shares not the asset. I guess NNPL are trying to leverage their potential rights to get something out of it. Annoying.

[zengas] 07/3/2022 10:58

NNPC had previously given approval to Seplat/Trident for the Exxon asset. Now Avuru and the Seplat Chaiman have gone/going (jointly started up Seplat years ago).

"Avuru’s Chappal Petroleum in race for ExxonMobil Nigeria assets

Chappal Petroleum Development Company, an indigenous oil and gas company, is one of the strongest bidders for the ExxonMobil Nigeria oil and gas assets that are up for sale, The Business Intelligence Africa (TBI Africa) has learnt.
Chappal Petroleum Development Company reportedly was founded by Mr. Austin Avuru, one of Nigeria’s prominent and respected oil and gas executives, when he left Seplat Energy Plc as the Chief Executive Officer.

Chappal Petroleum stands a good chance to clinch the deal in view of the withdrawal of Warburg Pincus-backed Trident Energy which was Seplat Energy Plc’s partner that was expected to bring a substantial part of the estimated $1.5 billion ExxonMobil Nigeria assets.

Besides, it was learnt that the United Kingdom’s Cairn Energy, with about US$908billion market capitalization, has teamed up with Chappal Petroleum to bid for the assets.

With the backing of Cairn Energy, Chappal Petroleum is also said to be chasing several other Nigerian assets, which some of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria want to divest especially on onshore and swamp areas.
The participation of Avuru’s company in bidding for the assets, it was gathered, was the major reason Avuru was asked to step down from the Board of Seplat Energy Plc, when Seplat discovered his (Avuru’s) company was a key contender for the assets. Avuru was a non-executive director on the board of Seplat Energy Plc.

Meanwhile, an industry source stated that other firms are vying for the assets but top of the list and ExxonMobil’s preferred bidders are Seplat Energy Plc and Chappal Petroleum Development Company. ExxonMobil is still processing all the bids, he said, adding that offer is still open but the oil giant will close transaction between now and end of February as the senior partner in the assets ownership, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) had earlier given approval for sale to Seplat but that was before the pull out of Trident Energy from the deal.

It would be recalled that Seplat Energy Plc was set up in 2010 by Avuru and Ambrose Bryant Orjiako "

[zengas] 07/3/2022 10:57

Seplat was originally bidding with a partner in their 29/11/21 RNS for the assets as you can see, but now announced with no partner (believed to be Trident Energy). It was rumoured back in January this partner was pulling out back in January.

The strangest thing is that in the Seplat RNS there was no mention anywhere that i can see of pre-emption rights yet these stories now circulate.

Seplat must obviously beleive there is none and you don't do these kind of deals with the likes of Exxon, your legal counsel etc in doing such a deal and not be aware of them or report them. So i'm very surprised to see this circulating but knowing the Nigerian press they like to run stories sometimes regardless of full facts. In addition NNPC owes a lot of cash and a reported $1.2b to SPDC as they too seek to divest some assets of around $3b (which Seplat were reported to have shown interest probably with a partner). How does it look if it does, but where does NNPC find cash to buy assests while reportedly struggling to pay others on top of it's debt pile ?

Seplat were hoping to beat off a bid by local firm Chappal which they obviously did and a company such as Exxon will be very careful who it chooses to sell to particulary as the buyer needs to have strong ESG credentials. Selling an asset to just about anyone doesn't fit with shareholders incase that asset is not properly maintained or improved upon in terms of ESG. Knowing Nigeria, I wonder is there a back door attempt/sour grapes re this deal.

[zengas] 07/3/2022 10:57

I posted the following on Sat over on L SE

There appears to have been some internal turmoil at Seplat. This leaves one of the founders gone and another founder, the chairman going shortly too and the 3rd director in a short time frame all while this deal was going on.

12/11/21 - announces that Mr. Xavier Rolet, KBE, an Independent Non-Executive Director ("INED"), has decided to step down from the Board of Seplat Energy effective 11th November 2021 for personal reasons.

17/11/21 - today announces that its co-founder and pioneer Chairman, Dr. A.B.C. Orjiako has decided to step down as Chairman and from the Board of Directors of Seplat Energy Plc at the next Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May 2022. In order to ensure an orderly transition, Dr A.B.C. Orjiako will remain the Chairman of Seplat Energy until the AGM, when he will be succeeded by an Independent Chairperson in line with Seplat Energy's succession plan.

29/11/21 - Seplat Energy Plc, a leading Nigerian energy company listed on the Nigerian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, notes the recent press speculation and confirms that Seplat Energy, together with a partner, is in competitive discussions to acquire ExxonMobil's Nigerian shallow water business. Deliberations are ongoing and accordingly, there can be no certainty as to the outcome.

23/12/21 - December 23, 2021: The Board of Seplat Energy announces that it has terminated the contract of appointment of Mr. Austin Avuru as a Non-Executive Director on 22nd December 2021, due to breaches of the Company's corporate governance policies and his fiduciary duties. The Board has called for his resignation as a Director of Seplat Energy.

and he goes - 2nd March 2022: Seplat Energy Plc today announces the resignation of Mr. Austin Avuru, a Non-Executive Director ("NED") from the Board of SEPLAT Energy with effect from 1st March 2022. In line with the provisions of the Company's Memorandum and Articles of Association, his replacement will be nominated to the Board.
The Board wishes to sincerely thank Mr. Avuru for his founding role and contribution to SEPLAT Energy for the past decade.