Past year: ▲ 85%(26.13 – 50.92 USD)
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
5 Mar 2014drilling spud● Neutral
Bobcat-1 spudded in PPL 238 after the PNG regulator approved the drilling plan, a vertical exploration well to 10,282 feet testing the carbonates of the Bobcat structure, expected to take about 90 days to drill, log and test.
9 Dec 2013regulatory community update▲ GoodMajor
PNG's energy department approved InterOil's application for Petroleum Retention Licence 39, which includes the Triceratops discovery. The release also spells out the Total deal announced days earlier: fixed payments of US$613 million at completion (expected Q1 2014), US$112 million at a final investment decision on a new LNG plant and US$100 million at first LNG cargo, plus variable payments for resource above 3.5 Tcfe that depend on certification by two independent certifiers after up to three appraisal wells in PRL 15. Per-unit prices are US$0.77/mcfe (above 3.5 and below 5.4 Tcfe, paid at final investment decision), US$1.03/mcfe (5.4-6.5 Tcfe) and US$1.29/mcfe (above 6.5 Tcfe), both paid at certification, after the PNG government back-in; illustrative totals run from US$1.5 billion at 5.4 Tcfe to US$5.3 billion at the GLJ high case of 11.8 Tcfe, with the appraisal programme expected to finish in 2015. Completion still depends on government approvals and buying out the minority interests in PRL 15. This confirms and details the earlier Total sale rather than changing it.
6 Dec 2013asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
After a two-year partnering search InterOil agreed to sell Total a gross 61.3% of PRL 15, keeping a material 30% of an integrated LNG development, and gave Total an exclusive right to negotiate a farm-in across its other PNG licences. Fixed payments of US$613 million at completion, US$112 million at final investment decision and US$100 million at first cargo, plus resource-linked variable payments the company illustrated at US$1.5-3.6 billion for a certified 5.4-9.0 Tcfe. From here the price InterOil receives is a direct function of a resource number nobody has yet certified.
19 Aug 2013debt financing▼ BadMajor
The ExxonMobil exclusivity lapsed after three months, with InterOil saying only that talks continued. In the same release it took a one-year US$75 million secured loan from Westpac PNG and Bank South Pacific, drawn in tranches with US$37.5 million available immediately, to keep the exploration and drilling programme going.
17 July 2013debt financing● Neutral
A US$350 million refinery working capital facility arranged by BNP Paribas replaced an existing US$240 million bilateral line - US$270 million syndicated and secured on Napa Napa's inventory and working capital at LIBOR plus 3.75%, plus an US$80 million non-recourse discounting line. Money for running the refinery, not for drilling.
24 May 2013material agreement▲ GoodMajor
InterOil and Pacific LNG entered exclusive negotiations with ExxonMobil over selling enough of PRL 15 to feed an extra LNG train at ExxonMobil's existing Konebada site, with staged payments before and after production, a funded delineation drilling programme and recertification of the resource. Any deal needed PNG government approval.
24 Apr 2013security holder rights change● Neutral
InterOil replaced its expiring shareholder rights plan with a new one effective 29 May 2013 and adopted new by-laws. The plan triggers if a bidder passes 20% without following the permitted-bid route, which requires an offer open at least 60 days and a 50% minimum tender from independent holders.
15 Apr 2013joint venture update▲ Good
The joint venture operating agreements for PRL 15 and PPL 237 were approved by the petroleum minister and registered under the Oil and Gas Act, clearing a legal precondition while confidential negotiations with more than one bidder for the Elk-Antelope partnership continued.
25 Mar 2013farm in farm out completion▲ GoodMajor
Pacific Rubiales funded the final US$55 million on 23 March, completing the full US$116 million cash payment and closing the farm-in signed in July 2012. Reimbursement of its share of Triceratops-2 drilling costs was still to follow.
24 Jan 2013drilling result▲ GoodMajor
Logging of Antelope-3 finished: 10.2% average porosity over 1,810 feet of net pay at 66% net-to-gross, sitting between Antelope-1's 8.8% and Antelope-2's 13.1%. Reservoir quality consistent with the existing model rather than better than it. Separately, binding bids in the LNG partnering process were set to close on 28 February 2013.
2 Jan 2013drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
Antelope-3 reached total depth on 25 December and Schlumberger's preliminary logs showed the same reefal limestone and dolomite as Antelope-1 and -2, sharing a water contact at 7,310 feet below sea level for a hydrocarbon column of about 2,301 feet - the tallest yet measured in the Antelope field. The Mitsui and Energy World deadlines were extended again in the same release to leave room for partner selection.
10 Dec 2012well test result▲ GoodMajor
The first drill-stem test on Antelope-3 flowed a maximum 44.8 million cubic feet of gas a day with 10.4-14.9 barrels of condensate per million cubic feet, through a 64/64-inch choke over a 584-foot open-hole interval at 2,331 psi flowing tubing pressure. InterOil said in the same release that the rate was significantly limited by the downhole test equipment and the surface separator, so this is an equipment-constrained maximum, not a sustained deliverability figure.
30 Nov 2012drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
Antelope-3 hit the top of the reservoir at 5,328 feet measured depth, 217 feet above the pre-drill estimate and 92 feet higher than Antelope-1. The well flowed and was shut in at surface, the gas kick circulated out and flared, before casing went in. A drill-stem test was planned once about 300 feet of reservoir had been drilled.
16 Nov 2012regulatory community update▲ GoodMajor
Papua New Guinea's cabinet approved InterOil's Gulf LNG project at a minimum 3.8 million tonnes a year, and at the same time approved the State buying a further 27.5% of the Elk-Antelope fields on commercial terms, on top of the 22.5% it can take under the Oil and Gas Act. Approval and dilution arrived in the same decision.
16 Oct 2012debt financing● Neutral
A five-year amortising US$100 million secured term loan from BNP Paribas, Bank South Pacific and ANZ at LIBOR plus 6.5%, secured on the fixed assets of the Napa Napa refinery. Its first use was to repay the US$25.4 million still owed under a 2001 loan from the US government's OPIC.
1 Oct 2012drilling spud● NeutralMajor
Antelope-3 spudded, an appraisal well about 1 km south of Antelope-1 planned to roughly 8,366 feet and intended to be completed as a future producer. InterOil's Rig 3 was to move on to Elk-3, the last well needed to satisfy the first two-year work commitment on PRL 15.
29 Aug 2012regulatory community update▲ GoodMajor
InterOil said PNG has suspended the 14 May 2012 notice of intention to cancel the LNG Project Agreement. The notice had started a six-month consultation period, and the suspension stays until the National Executive Council approves the final LNG project concept. Negotiations continue on detailed specifications, so the agreement is not yet secured. This relates to the project agreement approved by the NEC in December 2009.
30 July 2012farm in farm out agreement▲ GoodMajor
The Pacific Rubiales farm-in was executed on materially the same terms as April's heads of agreement, but completion remained up to 18 months away and conditional on joint venture operating agreements and PNG government approval. Pacific Rubiales kept the right to terminate at stages of the work programme and recover up to US$96 million of its US$116 million cash out of future production proceeds. Pacific LNG took 25% of the Triceratops payments by cutting its own indirect interest.
29 June 2012material agreement● Neutral
The Mitsui condensate stripping plant joint venture deadline was formally extended to 31 December 2012, the further extension InterOil had flagged as possible in March.
30 Apr 2012farm in farm out agreement▲ GoodMajor
Pacific Rubiales agreed to farm in for a 10% net (12.9% gross) interest in PPL 237, which contains the Triceratops structure, for US$116 million of staged cash plus a carry on an agreed work programme and a final resource payment. Explicitly separate from the Elk-Antelope partnering process running in parallel.
30 Mar 2012drilling progress report● Neutral
Triceratops-2 reached 5,971 feet with persistent mud losses of 5-40 barrels an hour in the carbonate; drill-stem test equipment was delayed, so InterOil chose to keep drilling toward about 7,546 feet and log the well first, deferring the flow test. The same release extended the Mitsui condensate-plant deadline to 30 June 2012 and Energy World's to 31 December 2012.
30 Mar 2012drilling progress report▲ Good
InterOil called a technical conference call after drilling 1,489 feet of the target carbonate at Triceratops-2, with background gas from methane through to heavier hydrocarbons, condensate shows and dolomite indicating reef development. Encouraging mud-log indications only - the well had not been flow tested.
17 Jan 2012drilling spud● NeutralMajor
Drilling began on Triceratops-2, an appraisal well on a structure first tested by the Bwata-1 well in 1959, which flowed up to 28 million cubic feet of gas a day over a 512-foot gas column. Planned to about 7,579 feet and 60-120 days to drill, log and test; new seismic had mapped a larger closure with the same character as the Antelope reef.
22 Dec 2011material agreement▼ Bad
The dates for meeting conditions and reaching a final investment decision under the Energy World and Mitsui agreements were pushed out to 31 March 2012, and the floating-LNG agreement with FLEX LNG and Samsung Heavy Industries, which had contemplated a decision by year end, simply lapsed.
2 Dec 2011material agreement▲ Good
A third non-binding offtake agreement, this one with Chinese gas distributor ENN for 1.0-1.5 million tonnes a year over 15 years from 2015, with exclusivity over those volumes and a target of a binding sales contract by mid-2012.
28 Nov 2011material agreement▲ Good
A second offtake heads of agreement, with Gunvor's Singapore arm, for 1 million tonnes a year over 15 years from 2015, signed in Port Moresby in front of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill. The release states it is not binding.
3 Aug 2011material agreement▲ Good
InterOil and its Gulf LNG partner Pacific LNG signed a heads of agreement with Noble Group's Noble Clean Fuels to supply 1 million tonnes of LNG a year for ten years from 2014 - the first LNG offtake agreement for a project that as yet had no plant, no international operating partner and no final investment decision. The document only sets the basis for negotiating binding terms.
23 Mar 2011resource reserve update▲ GoodMajor
An independent GLJ report put the best-case contingent gas resource at Elk and Antelope at 8.59 Tcf plus 128.9 million barrels of condensate at year-end 2010, 6% higher (85.1 MMBOE) than at year-end 2009 even though the estimated condensate fell. The Mule Deer structure was removed from the estimate as a separate undrilled structure. Low and high cases are 6.47 and 10.44 Tcf. The company still has no production or reserves, and these are contingent resources of undetermined economic status.
17 Dec 2010business combination● Neutral
InterOil bought out investors' indirect participation interests totalling 1.05% of Elk and Antelope (and of future discoveries from four wells still to be drilled) in exchange for 546,507 new shares. This lifts InterOil's stated interest in its exploration licences to 75.6114%, on the assumption that all remaining such investors take up their rights. The premium over the investors' original investment is booked as a roughly $23.1m expense in the quarter and year to 31 December 2010, with no effect on cash. Existing shareholders are diluted by the new shares.
2 Dec 2010regulatory community update▲ GoodMajor
InterOil was granted Petroleum Retention License 15 covering Elk, Antelope and surrounding blocks, combining the fields into one licence with minimum work commitments over five years. A petroleum development licence, not yet applied for, and further approvals are still needed before construction or commercial production. The CEO says it will help with partnering.
