Maurel News

With more ships heading around the Cape of Good Hope due to attacks in the Red Sea region and a shutdown in their main South African bunkering operations, Mercuria and Trafigura have started refuelling services in Mauritius, four sources said.The two trading houses have opened operations in Port Louis to compensate for the shutdown at South Africa's Algoa Bay which stems from a tax dispute with authorities, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.Algoa Bay is South Africa's…

Paris-based Maurel & Prom announced that it has acquired Shell Exploration and Production Investments' 40% interest as Shareholder B in Petroregional del Lago Mixed Company, which operates the Urdaneta West field in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela.Maurel & Prom said further that all condition precedents have been satisfied and that the acquisition has been completed.The total consideration for the acquisition of Shell's shares in the Mixed Company is EUR70 million, funded from Maurel & Prom's existing cash resources and composed as follows: EUR47 million which have been paid at closing of the transaction, and EUR23 million payable in December 2019…

Maurel & Prom announced that, along with Mnazi Bay license partners Wentworth and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), it has signed a gas sales and purchase agreement with TPDC for the long-term sale of natural gas from the Mnazi Bay and Msimbati fields in southern Tanzania to the government owned and operated Mtwara to Dar es Salaam pipeline and Madimba central processing facility currently under construction and scheduled for completion and commissioning in Q1 2015. Pursuant to the Mnazi Bay GSA, the Mnazi Bay Partners are contracted to supply to the Pipeline Project up to a maximum 80 mcf/day of natural gas during the first eight months with the option to increase over time to a maximum 130 mmcf/day of natural gas for up to 17-year supply period.

DP World took advantage of strong market conditions and scarcity value to raise a $1 billion convertible bond with a ten year lifespan on Thursday, in order to fund growth opportunities and diversify its funding sources. The issue is a rare example of an international convertible bond from a Middle Eastern company and comes at a time when convertible bonds have drawing investors' attention following a spate of issuance by European firms. Pricing for DP World's debut convertible…

Dubai's DP World plans to raise $1 billion with a convertible bond issue of 10 years duration on Thursday to fund growth opportunities and diversify its funding sources, the Dubai-based ports operator said in a statement. The issue is a rare example of an international convertible bond from a Middle Eastern issuer, but comes at a time of spiking convertible issuance among European corporates. DP World's debut convertible issue is expected to pay a coupon in a range of 1.5 to 2 percent, and will have a conversion premium between 35 and 40 percent above the reference share price, the bourse filing said. The reference price will be set according to the volume-weighted average price between the start and close of trading of DP World shares on Thursday.

Tanzania has invited energy explorers to bid for six blocks in the east African nation that is fast becoming a new frontier in the hunt for oil and gas. According to a statement by the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation seen by Reuters, the six blocks are all inland and stretch from the southeast of the country to the northwest. Bidders have until December 3 to submit their documents. Tanzania has at least 14 companies exploring at sites both on and offshore, and it has so far found three areas with natural gas deposits. Its last licensing round was in 2004. Prospectors are studying east Africa afresh as insecurity in other parts of the continent and increasing energy nationalism elsewhere push them to seek new sources.