SacOil Plans Secondary Listing on AIM Next Year

JSE-listed SacOil on Tuesday announced that it would pursue a secondary listing on Aim in the first quarter of 2011, to attract additional foreign investment.

SacOil CEO Robin Vela told Engineering News Online that the upstream oil and gas company has embarked on an “aggressive” acquisition drive and that listing on Aim would provide it with further financial capacity to realise its growth ambitions.

He said that even though SacOil had been able to raise the required funds in a generally supportive local market, it was still somewhat limiting.

“The Aim market is also more established in the upstream oil and gas market, which could see SacOil being rerated. We also believe that the new rating would eventually flow through to our listing on the JSE.”

SacOil said that attracting new institutional investors, both locally and abroad, would ensure that the company was sufficiently capitalised to develop its current exploration projects and to pursue potential transactions.

“In addition to our recent joint-venture (JV) agreement with Nigerian oil company Energy Equity Resources (EER), the company also has some other assets on its radar, and we plan to further increase our Nigerian acreage.”

The new JV with EER provided SacOil with an entry into the onshore swamp area of the Niger Delta, consisting of discovered, but undeveloped oil assets, with a block estimated recoverable contingent resource of 100-million barrels ofoil equivalent and a peak potential production rate of up to 30 000 bbl/d.

It further presents SacOil with the opportunity to acquire oil and gas assets disposed of by international oil companies as a result of Nigeria’s indigenisation legislation.

Meanwhile, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, SacOil has started with the exploration work programme on its ‘Block 3′ of the Albertine basin, with further equity investment from Metropolitan Asset Managers and Stanlib Asset Management.

Vela said that currently, the company was in a cash positive position, with no debt on its books, and was looking forward to the additional listing that would further supplement its balance sheet and underpin future growth.

Source: Engineering News Online