Austral Announces PNG Asset Sale and Debt Reduction
March 25 2008 - 9:59PM
PR Newswire (US)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral
Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V: APX; NZSX: APX; Amex: AEN) announces
that it has signed an agreement with Horizon Energy for the
purchase of Austral's 28.92% interest in Papua New Guinea petroleum
retention license (PRL) 4 and 10.7% interest in PRL 5. The offers
are subject to the pre-emptive rights in the relevant joint venture
agreement, which give the existing joint venture parties a 45 day
period in which to take up an option to purchase a proportionate
share of Austral's interest on the same terms and conditions as the
Horizon agreement. The Company plans to use the proceeds of sale to
accelerate loan repayments under the Company's debt facility with
Investec. The amount outstanding under the debt facility is
US$18.65m. Under the arrangement, Austral will, using the proceeds
of sale, along with other scheduled reductions and the set-off of
funds being held in a reserve account, reduce the company debt to
US$11 million by May 31, 2008, a reduction of $7.5 million.
Commenting on the early repayment and asset sale, Company CEO Mr.
Jewell said, "Now is a good time to reduce the company's debt
profile, strengthen the balance sheet, and retain its focus on the
growth of production from our core assets including the Cheal field
development, Kahili Gas Development and Cardiff appraisal. To
facilitate this, Austral has completed a review of its inventory of
projects and will monetize non-core assets where the divestment can
take advantage of the value cycle of the asset and deliver economic
value to the company." Mr. Jewell also said, "Austral has funding
and plans in place to drill additional wells in the Cheal field in
the second quarter of this year." Additionally Austral and the
holders of $10 million in redeemable preferred shares convertible
at $1.30 have agreed to swap those shares for an unsecured $10
million debenture with the same economic terms as the preferred
shares. The preferred shares are currently carried within Austral
accounts as long-term debt under generally accepted accounting
principles. Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com/ Email: Phone:
Thom Jewell, CEO +64 (4) 495 0880 or Brad Holmes: +1 (713) 304 6962
None of the Exchanges upon which Austral Pacific's securities trade
have approved or disapproved the contents hereof. This release
includes certain statements that may be deemed to be
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable
legislation. Other than statements of historical fact, all
statements in this release addressing future production, reserve
potential, exploration and development activities and other
contingencies are forward-looking statements. Although management
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are
not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or
developments may differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements, due to factors such as market prices,
exploration and development successes, continued availability of
capital and financing, and general economic, market, political or
business conditions. See our public filings at
http://www.sedar.com/ and
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm for further
information. DATASOURCE: Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. CONTACT: Thom
Jewell, CEO, +64 [4] 495 0880, or Brad Holmes, +1-713-304-6962,
both of Austral Pacific Energy Ltd., Web site:
http://www.austral-pacific.com/
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