Business
50% Sale of Caspian Explorer & Operational Update
50% Sale of Caspian Explorer & Operational Update.
About this update from Caspian Sunrise Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n \n \nCaspian Sunrise PLC\n \n(\"Caspian Sunrise\", or the \"Company\")\n \nSale of 50% of Caspian Explorer & Operational Update\n \nIntroduction\nThe Board of Caspian Sunrise is pleased to update the market with news of the conditional sale of 50% of the Caspian Explorer for $22.5 million together with a general operational update.\n \nBackground\nThe Caspian Explorer is a drilling vessel designed specifically for use in the shallow northern Caspian Sea where traditional deep water rigs cannot be used.\n \nCaspian Sunrise acquired it for approximately $3.7 million in 2020, since then it has undertaken a safety related contract for the North Caspian Operating Company .\n \nIn March 2023, the Company announced its first drilling contract, which is scheduled to be drilled in the summer of 2024 with a well to be drilled to a planned depth of 2,500 meters for the Isatay Operating Company LLP ,a Kazakh registered explorer, in which Italy's ENI is a leading participant.\n \nDisposal of 50%\nThe Company has conditionally agreed to sell 50% of the shares in the UAE registered Prosperity Petroleum FZE, the holding company of the Kazakh registered KC Caspian Explorer LLP, which in turn owns the Caspian Explorer drilling vessel, for a cash consideration of $22.5 million. The purchaser is Stepping Stone Investments Limited, a company registered in the Seychelles.\n \nThe sale is conditional inter alia upon payment being received by the Company and the re registration of the sale shares in the UAE.\n \nThe carrying value in the Group's 2021 financial statements of 100% of the Caspian Explorer was $3.6 million. The disposal would therefore be expected to result in a gross accounting profit of approximately $20 million.\n \nIn the year ended 31 December 2022 the Caspian Explorer had no revenue and costs of approximately $850,000.\n \nThe proceeds from the sale would be used in the further development of the Group's assets.\n \nOperational update\nIn recent months the focus of the Company's work at its flagship BNG Contract Area has been at the shallow wells and in particular Well 142.\n \nWork at Deep Well 802 on the Yelemes Deep structure was suspended awaiting additional equipment, which due to the sanctions on Russia, now needs to be sourced vi...