RH Petrogas relinquishes West Belida Block offshore Indonesia

Submitted by Editorial on Tue, 2015-04-07 11:08

07th April 2015

RH Petrogas Limited (though its wholly-owned subsidiary Orchard Energy (West Belida) Limited) will not be seeking an extension to the initial six year exploration period of the West Belida Block Production Sharing Contract (PSC) located onshore Jambi Province, South Sumatra, Indonesia, which is due to expire on 4 May 2015

The group is planning a total relinquishment of the West Belida Block.

The company and its subsidiaries have made this determination taking into account the findings of past exploration efforts in the block and based on the results of the passive seismic survey recently concluded in mid-March 2015, which they did not deem encouraging.

The group is therefore planning for a total relinquishment of the West Belida Block.

“We constantly review our asset portfolio with the objective of deploying our capital effectively to grow our reserve and production base,” said Francis Chang, RH Petrogas chief executive officer. “The relinquishment of the West Belida Block is a reflection of our commitment to achieve such goal, as we focus our resources on developing our other assets and pursuing new opportunities in the region.”

The company has fulfilled all its obligations towards the firm work programme under the terms of the PSC.

As most of the exploration and evaluation costs associated with the block have been expensed or written off to the profit and loss accounts in prior years, the relinquishment of the West Belida Block will not have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets and earnings per share of the group for the financial year ending 31 December 2015.