| The sea off Norway is famous for farmed salmon. In different areas, the Norwegian Sea has yielded riches for Singapore-listed oil explorer Rex International Holding. In October 2019, for example, oil & gas was discovered in the Shrek prospect in the Norwegian Sea licence PL838 which Rex has an interest in. Notably, the discovery was aided by Rex's virtual drilling technology, and Rex is now in a position to consider monetising its stake. It's big bucks, going by a recent UOB Kay Hian report (REX: Stock surges, what do 2019, 2020 profitability look like?). You get an idea of the harvest size from the fact that earlier in 2019, Rex had monetised its interests in the Rolvsnes discovery and related assets for US$45 million. Fresh opportunities are swimming like salmon to Rex. Its 90 per cent subsidiary, Lime Petroleum AS (“LPA”), has been awarded participating interests in two new licences in the 2019 Awards in Predefined Areas (“APA 2019”) round in Norway. |
The licences are PL1061 and PL1062, both located in the Norwegian Sea.
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Stock price |
18.1 c |
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52-week range |
6 – 21 c |
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PE |
5.6 |
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Market cap |
S$235 m |
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30 Day Avg Volume |
58,526,090 |
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Shares outstanding |
1.29 b |
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Dividend |
-- |
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1-year return |
138% |
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Source: Bloomberg |
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LPA had assessed the two licences to have significant exploration potential through its initial de-risking process, including with Rex Virtual Drilling.
The licences will have an initial two-year period leading to ‘drill-or-drop” decisions.
The two-year initial period will involve further geological and geophysical analysis.
LPA will hold a 20 per cent interest in PL1061.
Other partners in the licence are the operator Wellesley Petroleum AS at 40 per cent, Edison Norge AS at 20 per cent and ONE-Dyas Norge AS at 20 per cent.
LPA will hold a 30 per cent interest in PL1062.
Other partners in the licence are the operator Neptune Energy Norge AS at 40 per cent and Pandion Energy AS at 30 per cent.
Both licences are located in the prolific Haltenbanken area of the Norwegian Sea, and in line with LPA’s strategy of participating in exploration near existing infrastructure.
The Haltenbanken area is now considered a core area of exploration for LPA.
 CEO Mans Lidgren. NextInsight file photoMr Måns Lidgren, CEO of Rex International Holding, said, “The award of these two licences are timely, as they allow LPA to have a continuous pipeline of exploration drilling projects in the short term. "We are excited about the prospects of these new licences, which have been qualified with our proprietary liquid hydrocarbon indicator Rex Virtual Drilling.” |
In 2019, LPA monetised its interests in the Rolvsnes discovery and related assets for US$45 million.
It then farmed into two licences, PL838 and PL838B in the Norwegian Sea, of which PL838 yielded the Shrek discovery in October 2019 following exploration drilling.
According to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy’s press release dated 14 January 2020, 28 companies have been offered ownership interests in a total of 69 licences on the Norwegian Shelf in the APA 2019.
Of the 69 licences, 13 are in the Barents Sea, 23 are in the Norwegian Sea and 33 are in the North Sea.
For the criteria and requirements involved in applying for the licences, click here.
