LONDON: Zenith Energy Netherlands has signed an extension agreement in respect of the conditional sale and purchase agreement (SPA) it signed with KUFPEC (Tunisia) Limited (KUFPEC), a 100% subsidiary of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company K.S.C.C, a subsidiary of the State of Kuwait’s national oil company, for a participation in, inter alia, the North Kairouan permit and the Sidi El Kilani Concession, which includes the Sidi El Kilani oilfield (SLK).
For reference, signing of the SPA was announced to the market on April 20, 2020.
KUFPEC holds an undivided 22.5% interest in the Tunisian Acquisition, together with 25 Class B shares in Compagnie Tuniso-Koweito-Chinoise de Pétrole (CTKCP), the operator, representing 25% of the issued share capital of the company.
Completion of the SPA remains conditional on a favourable opinion being granted by the Comité Consultatif des Hydrocarbures (“CCH”) of the Republic of Tunisia and the approval of the Tunisian State represented by the Ministry of Industry and Energy in respect of the transfer of KUFPEC’s right, title and interest in and under the SLK Concession to Zenith Netherlands.
The Extension has been granted in view of the difficulties caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which have not enabled Completion to be achieved. The new Longstop date for Completion of the SPA is June 30, 2021.
Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer of Zenith, commented: “We look forward with enthusiasm to hopefully completing the acquisition of SLK in due course once we receive a favourable opinion from the CCH and the approval of the Tunisian State.
The Board is increasingly confident regarding Zenith Energy’s establishment in Tunisia, where we are currently assessing certain additional oil production and development opportunities to further enrich our portfolio.”