Chevron Corp. announced today that it has completed the purchase of an additional 5% stake in the Tengizchevroil joint venture in western Kazakhstan from the Republic of Kazakhstan. The action concludes an agreement signed by the two parties last May and increases Chevron's equity interest in TCO to 50% from 45% (OGJ Online, May 17, 2000). Reuters pegged the value of the deal at $660 million.
Greka Energy Corp., New York, has entered into a settlement agreement with Canada's Capco Resources Ltd. to buy back 800,000 shares of its common stock at a fixed, undisclosed price. The negotiated price includes Capco's settlement of all its outstanding debts owed to Greka and dismissal of related litigation. The closing is scheduled to occur no later than Oct. 30, 2000.
Osprey Energy Ltd., Bridgewater, NS, said it agreed to buy a 75% working interest in a North Louisiana oil and gas property from BPR Energy Inc., Lafayette, La., for $1 million. The interest reverts to a 50% working interest after payout. The property covers more than 20,000 acres in four counties and contains nine Austin Chalk well bores more than 18,000 ft deep, 1 salt water disposal well, and 3 Cotton Valley wells more than 14,000 ft deep. Osprey said all wells have all the equipment necessary to commence production. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is currently operating one well that is producing more than 200 Mcfd of gas.
Bargo Energy Co. said it has retained Lehman Brothers Inc. and Chase Securities Inc. for the purpose of evaluating various strategic alternatives for the future. Bargo says it will consider various alternatives to maximize shareholder value over the near term, including the possibility of an outright sale, merger, or recapitalization with public or private equity. Bargo Energy is a US oil and gas production, exploitation, and acquisition firm headquartered in Houston.
Dominion Resources Inc. is now doiung business under the name Dominion.
Pontotoc Production Inc., Ada, Okla., said it will begin trading on the NASDAQ National Marketing System (NMS) Aug. 31. Pontotoc is moving onto the NMS from the NASDAQ Small Cap Market.
The New York Mercantile Exchange said Monday it's selected Andersen Consulting to act as the program manager and integrator for the exchange's enymex internet venture. The venture will provide a global exchange for forward trading and clearing contracts in a range of physical commodities with an initial focus on energy and metals. It will link the electronic derivatives market with routing to futures and options markets and use the exchange's clearinghouse to provide counterparty risk management and net margining of positions across derivatives markets. Andersen Consulting was originally retained to help provide a business structure for the project during its initial phase of development.
Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd. (BHP), Melbourne, and Japanese firm Mitsubishi Corp. said recently they plan to jointly acquire Australia-based QCT Resources Ltd. at a price of $1.20 (Aus.)/share. Santos Ltd. owns 250.4 million shares in QCT Resources, or 36.4% of QCT Resource's issued capital. Santos said Tuesday it's considering "alternate means" of realizing its investment in Australia-based QCT Resources Ltd. Santos officials indicated at the company's annual meeting May 5 that its investment in QCT has been under review for some time and is considered "noncore" to Santos's future. Santos is still considering the offer from BHP and Mitsubishi but said it would only take action on its investment if it can achieve "fair value" for Santos shareholders.
Aspen Group Resources Corp., Oklahoma City, has completed the acquisition of Old Dominion Oil Corp.'s oil and gas assets. Under the terms of the purchase and sale agreement, Aspen is acquiring 100% of Old Dominion's producing wells, leases, property, and equipment in an all-cash transaction. At the request of Old Dominion, terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Old Dominion's holdings included interests in about 400 production properties in six states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The predominant position is in the Anadarko basin in Oklahoma, where Aspen also has a number of key producing properties. Aspen estimates that 90% of Old Dominion's reserves are natural gas.
