Energy - smartinvestment.ca

[wbalenov]

Premier Oil Says Huntington Field to Exceed Output Plans
By Eduard Gismatullin - Mar 6, 2013 8:54 AM PT
Premier Oil Plc (PMO), a London-based energy explorer operating from the U.K. to Southeast Asia, said production from its Huntington oilfield in the North Sea will exceed forecasts by at least 20 percent.
Three of four wells have already flowed at 10,000 barrels a day each, beating a forecast for the entire field of 25,000 barrels a day, Chief Financial Officer Tony Durrant said in an interview in London. Premier and partner EON SE will start output this month after “successful” development drilling.
The production prospects for Huntingdon mark a turnaround in its fortunes, after delays at the field and at the North Sea Rochelle deposit forced Premier to cut its 2013 output forecast in November. The Huntington partners also faced setbacks as Sevan Marine ASA (SEVAN), hired to upgrade the floating production vessel, sold the unit to avoid bankruptcy.
Premier will assess the initial performance of the wells before making a decision on any further upgrade to increase capacity, according to Chief Executive Officer Simon Lockett.
“There is chat and talk about debottlenecking,” he said in an interview, referring to a capacity expansion. “But I’d like to see these wells as they perform first.”
Premier Oil advanced by 2.4 percent to 394.2 pence in London trading, the biggest gain in a month.
Huntington also holds natural gas. Iona Energy Inc. (INA), which bought a stake in the project from Carrizo Oil & Gas Ltd., said last month the deposit will pump 27 million cubic feet of gas a day. Norwegian Energy Co. ASA is also a partner in the project.
Output Forecast
Premier said in November it expects to pump as much as 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from its fields in 2013, down from an earlier 75,000-barrel-a-day forecast. The company is now sticking to the revised target even after Endeavour International Corp. (END) said last month that Rochelle’s first gas production will be delayed after a storm damaged a well.
“It’s a 99 percent certainty” that partners will abandon the damaged well and will have to drill a new one, Lockett said. The effect on Premier’s planned production isn’t a concern because the company’s share of output is only 500 barrels of oil equivalent a day, he said.
Premier together with partners Cairn Energy Plc (CNE) and Wintershall AG in December approved the U.K.’s Catcher field- development plan. Teekay Corp. (TK) is designing a blueprint to start pumping its first oil in 2016, according to Durrant. Sevan is competing with Bluewater Holding BV and BW Offshore Ltd. (BWO) to build the producing vessel for the field, Lockett said.
“Hopefully they will be able to make a decision within this year with us,” Sevan Chief Executive Officer Carl Lieungh told investors Feb. 27. “These things have a tendency of being delayed.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in London at egismatullin@bloomberg.net

[wbalenov]

I have been in Iona since .48 They finally secured financing and their North Sea prospects are expected to flow in the next month or so. The chaps working for Iona are ex Ithaca guys.
Cheers, Walt

Iona Energy Closes Senior Debt Facility and Huntington Oil Field Acquisition

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Feb. 22, 2013) -

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN UNITED STATES

Iona Energy Inc. ("Iona" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:INA), is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced Senior Secured Borrowing Base Facility for up to USD$250 million (the "BBF") with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Lloyds TSB Bank plc, and BNP Paribas.

Iona has also closed its acquisition of Carrizo UK Huntington Limited ("Carrizo UK"). The acquisition of Carrizo UK consists of:

A 15% non-operated working interest in License P1114 of UK North Sea Block 22/14b covering the near-producing Huntington oil field development ("Huntington");

Royalties equivalent to 2.55% of total gross oil and gas production payable to Carrizo UK from the other Huntington Joint Venture Partners (the "Royalties");

A 100% interest in that part of Block 22/14d that contains the 3D seismically mapped extension of the Jurassic discovery which underlies Huntington; and

Carrizo UK's ring-fenced tax losses totaling approximately USD$125 million as at the transaction effective date of July 1st, 2012.

The working interests on License P1114 consist of E.ON Ruhrgas UK E&P (25% Operator), Premier Oil plc (40%), Norwegian Energy Company ASA (20%), and Iona (15%) (collectively the "Huntington Joint Venture Partners").

Under the terms of the Sale and Purchase Agreement, total consideration paid on closing by Iona to Carrizo Oil & Gas Limited ("Carrizo"), including financial and working capital adjustments was USD$172.6 million. Additional deferred payment of USD$18 million is due and payable to Carrizo upon receipt of first oil revenues.

Huntington consists of Paleocene reservoir oil, located in Block 22/14b in the Central North Sea. Huntington has been developed with four production and two water-injection wells and will be tied back to Teekay's Floating Production Storage and Offloading ("FPSO") vessel, the Voyageur Spirit. The FPSO arrived at its final location on October 2nd, 2012. Final hook-up of risers has been completed and commissioning is now taking place, with first oil expected in the first half of 2013.

Initial stabilized gross production rates are estimated to be approximately 30,000 bbls of oil per day ("bopd") and 27 MMscf of gas per day ("MMscf/d"), or 4,500 bopd and 4.0 MMscf/d, totaling 5,175 boepd net to Iona (not including approximately net 765 bopd and 0.68 MMscf/d attributed to the Royalties). Management believes peak production rates will be considerably governed by the processing capacity of the FPSO, and as a result production decline rates in the first 24 months are expected to be slight. Given the API of 43 degrees and other qualities of the Huntington crude oil, Iona anticipates a slight premium to Brent quality priced crude.

As developed and under current market conditions, Iona estimates reserves for its interest in Huntington to be 3.5 MMbbls Proved Reserves, 6.0 MMbbls Proved plus Probable Reserves, and 7.3 MMbbls Proved plus Probable plus Possible Reserves respectively (excluding volumes attributed to the Royalties from the Huntington Joint Venture Partners). Iona expects to include the working and royalty interests in Huntington in its 2012 year-end independent reserves valuation due to be completed no later than April 30th, 2013.

Iona also announces that it has made full payments to MPX North Sea Limited ("MPX") and Sorgenia (E & P) UK Limited ("Sorgenia") in respect to the combined total adjusted deferred consideration, interest and fees of USD$46.8 million related to the Orlando Sale and Purchase agreement dated June 7, 2012.

About Iona Energy

Iona Energy is an oil and gas exploration, development and production company focused on oil and gas development in the United Kingdom's North Sea.

Note:

(1) Prepared by a non-independent qualified reserves evaluator in accordance with the COGE Handbook, effective February 22, 2013.

The securities of Iona being offered have not been, nor will be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements. This release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities in the United States.

Forward-looking Statements

Some of the statements in this announcement are forward-looking, including statements regarding the proposed terms of the Offering and anticipated closing dates of various transactions of Iona. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the intent, belief and current expectations of Iona Energy Inc. or its officers with respect to various matters, including expected production and reserves of the Huntington field. When used in this announcement, the words "expects," "believes," "anticipate," "plans," "may," "will," "should", "scheduled", "targeted", "estimated" and similar expressions, and the negatives thereof, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are not promises or guarantees, are based on various assumptions by Iona's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcome to differ materially from those suggested by any such statements, including without limitation, the risk that operational delays occur. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Iona Energy Inc. expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any forward-looking statement is based except as required by applicable securities laws.

Notes Regarding Reserves Estimates

As used in this press release, "boe" means barrel of oil equivalent on the basis of 6 mcf of natural gas to 1 bbl of oil. Boes may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 mcf: 1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.

As used in this press release, "possible reserves" are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves.

Additionally, this press release uses certain abbreviations as follows:
Oil and Natural Gas Liquids Natural Gas
bbls barrels Bcf billion cubic foot
MMbbls millions of barrels MMcf million cubic feet
MMboe million barrels of oil equivalent

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact Information:
Iona Energy Inc.
Neill A. Carson
Chief Executive Officer
+011 (44) 1224 228400


Iona Energy Inc.
Brad G. Gunn
Chief Financial Officer
(403) 775-7442

Marketwire International
February 22, 2013 - 2:20 PM EST