Premier Oil plc has signed a sale purchase agreement with Al-Haj Energy Ltd for the sale of Premier Oil Pakistan Holdings BV, media sources have reported. The company is reported to have been disposing of its non-core assets for $65.6m.
According to a press release issued on Wednesday, Premier Oil CEO Tony Durrant is reported to have said, “We are pleased to have reached agreement to sell our Pakistan business. While now non-core for Premier, our Pakistan business has consistently outperformed our expectations over the years and this is testament to the hard work and skill of our team in Islamabad.”
Premier Oil, an independent UK oil company has gas and oil interests in Britain, Asia and Africa expects a book gain on disposal of around $40m.
Al-Haj has paid an initial deposit of $15m to Premier and will be paying another $10m within the next 2 months.
According to the company, the proceeds from the transaction will be utilised to meet its net debt liabilities.
Premier’s Pakistan business operations consisted of non-operated equity interests in six gas producing fields in Pakistan. In 2016, the company reported a net after-tax profit of $19.8m, including a one-time non-cash gain of $5.7m in relation to the Kadanwari field, according to the company.
