PRESS STATEMENT
We refer to various newswire and print reports released this week insinuating the inability of Oando Energy Resources’ (OER) to raise funds to conclude the acquisition of ConocoPhillips Nigerian assets, as well as a supposed $330 million sale of our drilling subsidiary, Oando Energy Services (OES).
We wish to explicitly state that OER has successfully acquired all funds required to complete the acquisition, and is awaiting the consent of the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum.
A press release to this effect was put out by Oando Energy Resources on January 31, 2014 indicating that the Company had secured the $1.66 billion necessary for the acquisition conclusion: http://www.oandoplc.com/media/press-release/oando-energy-resources-secures-funding-for-acquisition-of-nigeria-upstream-oil-and-gas-business-for-conocophillips/
OES has not been put up for sale and remains a wholly-owned Oando PLC subsidiary. With a growing demand as a result of the divestment of substantial resource bases to indigenous companies, OES remains a viable business with great future potential.
It is imperative that information released about a publicly quoted company such as Oando PLC or its affiliate OER, is thoroughly verified before it is put in the public domain. The company’s securities are traded daily across three exchanges (NSE, JSE and TSX) and to prevent misinformation and confusion among shareholders, investors, employees, and the oil and gas sector at large, we implore all members of the Press, as the Fourth Estate, to take adequate steps to ensure the veracity of reports by fielding all enquiries with Oando PLC’s Corporate Communications department.
We state without equivocation that OES and OER are integral facets of our near to long term Upstream strategy and operations, as we remain firmly committed to optimizing our value across the energy value chain.
