WHL Energy

David Rowbottam, Managing Director at WHL Energy

BRR	Today on BRR Media I am joined by David Rowbottam, Managing Director of WHL Energy; David welcome back to BRR.
DR	Thank you very much Stacey and a warm welcome to all your listeners as well.
BRR	David given the withdrawal by AWE it probably came as no surprise that Tap Oil did not commit to the La Bella in what is seen as a very tough and challenging environment for junior oil and gas companies.
DR	Stacey, Tap had continued past AWE’s withdrawal as they were aware, under their option. that we were still talking to a potential partner and they wanted to continue that option and they had extended to the 13^th of February. But when we had told them earlier in the week that that party had finally declined; Tap did decide to finish its option, so we understood that. But the whole campaign around the VIC/P67 asset did provide us with verification on the value of the property. It was unfortunate the two most obvious candidates while agreeing with our technical assessment were in a position where they were not going to commence any new projects. So as part of that we also uncovered that there’s really a further step that we needed to complete before we moved into pre-drilling planning phase and we’re going to have to speak to NOPTA about that as that’s going to extend the time that it’s going to take for us to get to that next stage. But in reality it was a good campaign, timing was poor given where commodity prices are.
BRR	Okay so does this mean WHL is going to continue with its efforts in VIC/P67?
DR	Yes to date we’ve spent a total of $18 million Australian dollars, predominantly through joint venture money and that’s based on current exchange rates. That investment shows that this still remains a low risk project, close to markets where there is high demand that are driving higher prices for that sort of domestic gas on east coast. We also see that the project is ongoing and the failure to farm out at this stage is more of a reflection of current markets and commodity prices rather than the asset. So it would be a waste to throw away an asset that we’ve made that investment on, so we will continue.
BRR	And do you have an update for listeners on when they will hear more on the Seychelles?
DR	We’re working really hard on this area at the moment Stacey, and while Ophir continues to work through their assessment of the 3D in advance of their election to proceed to the drilling phase, our own technical team expect to provide an update to the volumetric estimate by the end of this month. And those estimates continue to tell a positive story in terms of target size for an opportunity that I remind our listeners is in very shallow water and has a shallow drilling depth of approximately 1500 metres. The Ophir commitment, subject to their election to proceed through to the drilling phase, values their 75% interest at US$64 million, which gives you an idea of the valuation that would be placed on WHL’s remaining 25% share. That $25 to $30 million valuation is approximately 10 times our current market capitalisation.
BRR	And finally David I’m sure a lot of people may be asking this question; if oil prices stay at current levels how is WHN going to fund the next three to 12 months?
DR	Firstly Stacey I don’t believe there are going to be many successful capital raisings for junior oil and gas companies on the ASX in 2015, therefore WHL Energy has had a look at its asset portfolio and it believes it should review the current equity level it holds in the Seychelles venture and that will be the first step in seeking to then go forward and acquire a production asset. In presentations we delivered at the end of last year we told the market we were looking at opportunities both in North Africa and for a selected part of East Africa, and that review is ongoing. With current commodity prices where they are, we see in the current market it being an appropriate time to get an asset at the best price. And that’s going to though be dependent upon a reduction within our Seychelles equity level.
BRR	David thank you very much for your time and the update today.
DR	Stacey I look forward to speaking to you and your subscribers again shortly, thank you very much.
BRR	And as always listeners if you have any questions at all for David, please email us on brr@brrmedia.com.

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