Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 12): Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd has relinquished its VIC/P57 petroleum exploration permit to the Australian National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) after an unsuccessful farmout exercise.

The application to surrender the exploration permit was submitted on Feb 4, through the group's indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Carnarvon Hibiscus Pty Ltd (CHPL) and associate company 3D Oil Ltd.

CHPL held a 55.1% direct interest in the VIC/P57 permit, while wholly-owned subsidiary Gippsland Hibiscus Pty Ltd held another 20% interest. The remaining interest of 24.9% was held by 3D Oil.

According to the announcement by Hibiscus to Bursa Malaysia on Friday (Aug 12), the approval for the surrender was received from The Commonwealth — Victoria Offshore Petroleum Joint Authority on Aug 4. Following that, NOPTA provided its approval for the surrender of the permit on Thursday.

Hibiscus said the application for the surrender of the permit was made prior to entering the secondary and optional work programme in Year 4, with an exploration well commitment cost of approximately A$31 million (RM98.07 million). 

“During Years 1 to 3 of the minimum guaranteed work programme, including a 12-month extension granted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, two moderate and high risk prospects were identified.

A farmout exercise was conducted from late 2019 to early 2022 to attract a well carry to drill one of the two prospects in 2022/2023 to meet the Year 4 work programme. As the farmout exercise was unsuccessful, a decision was made to apply to surrender the permit,” Hibiscus said. 

The surrender of the permit will take effect on the day the notice of surrender is published in the Australian Government Gazette, added Hibiscus.

Hibiscus highlighted that it had fully impaired the carrying value of the permit during the third quarter ended March 31, 2022, and as a result, there was no financial impact on the group’s financial statements subsequent to the approval for the surrender of the permit.

According to its official website, NOPTA administers titles and data management for petroleum and greenhouse gas (GHG) titles in Australian Commonwealth waters.

NOPTA also supports the management of offshore petroleum and GHG titles by providing expert advice, administration, compliance monitoring and data management in accordance with Australia’s Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act).

As at 3.17pm on Friday, Hibiscus was 2.38% or two sen higher at 86 sen, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM1.73 billion, with more than 18.14 million shares traded.

Edited ByEsther Lee
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