Po Valley Energy Ltd., Perth, has kept full ownership of its two onshore oil fields in northern Italy northeast of Modena following the blockage of their sale to private UK company Delta Energy Ltd. by a major Delta shareholder.
The identity of the Delta shareholder and its reasons for opposing the sale were not disclosed.
The sale cancellation comes after almost a year of due diligence and expense by Delta as well as endorsement from its management for acquisition of Po Valley’s 85% interest in large Cadelbosco di Sopra field and 100% of adjoining, smaller Grattasasso field.
Delta had agreed to acquire the two licenses for €1.13 million.
Po Valley Chairman Michael Masterman said he was disappointed about Delta’s withdrawal but that the company had been compensated by the fact that the oil price has risen about 54% during 2018 to sit at around $85/bbl—quite higher than when the Delta deal was initiated in August 2017.
“We also understand that work undertaken by Delta in the past 12 months points to upside above the licenses’ known 2C contingent oil resources of 10 million bbl,” Masterman said.
In addition, both fields host easily accessible shallow gas fields.
Even so, Masterman said Po Valley would still maintain priority on building a gas supply business through the development of its substantial northern Italy assets that include Selva field (63% interest), Torre del Moro oil and condensate field (100% interest), and Teodirico offshore gas development (100% interest).