Shares in Irish explorer Petrel fall on €800k delayed payment
Shares in Petrel Resources, the Irish oil explorer, fell sharply after it said that an international investor had failed to make a payment for a second tranche of shares, by a deadline it had set earlier this week.
Petrel had announced last year a new strategy to return to seeking out oil exploration licenses in the Middle East and had taken on a new investor under the Tamraz Group.
The new investment group was due to take a 51% stake in Petrel.
Led by international investor Roger Tamraz, the group had already paid €560,000 for the first tranche of shares, which helped boost its stake in Petrel to 29% last year.
However, a second payment worth €800,00 to cover the shares issued to the Tamraz Group in a further shares tranche to bring the group’s shareholding up to 51% failed to be transferred to Petrel’s bank account by a deadline the oil explorer had set for January 6.
David Horgan, director at Petrel, said the company had acted swiftly to inform market regulators of the circumstances surrounding the failure of Tamraz to pay for the second tranche of shares and was seeking explanations.
Mr Horgan said that it was not clear why the Tomraz Group had failed to make the payment and that the company found that 4 million shares had been sold “in a possible breach of a lock-in entered into by the Tamraz Group over their existing holdings of shares previously subscribed as a condition of the second tranche”.
He said he believed that the investors would pay for the second tranche of shares.
Petrel said the shares in the second tranche were issued but were “not yet delivered in the form of share certificates to the intended shareholders”.
“These certificates are being retained by Petrel Resources plc until payment is received,” the company said.
Petrel Resources became well known for its exploration licenses and oil contracts it held in Iraq, starting around 15 years ago.
It then refocused on winning licenses in the Irish Atlantic Irish seas before planning its re-entry into the Middle East through the Tamraz investment.
In an unexpected development, The Irish Government late last year announced it would issue no new oil exploration licenses.
It said the oil drilling ban was a way of showing Ireland’s commitment to the goals of the international climate change accords.
