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NIGERIAN CRUDE OIL AND GAS.
First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Limited
Afren plc (“Afren” or the “Company”) announces that First Hydrocarbon
Nigeria Company Limited (“FHN”) has been established to be a majority
Nigerian owned oil and gas company in the indigenous Nigerian Exploration &
Production (“E&P”) sector.
Strategic rationale In direct response to the Nigerian government’s
objective to increase the level of local participation in the oil and gas
sector and in line with the Company’s strategy, Afren has established FHN
with the support of two leading Nigerian financial institutions: First City
Monument Bank Plc (“FCMB”) and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (“GTBank”). Afren has
demonstrated its long-term commitment to working in partnership with
indigenous companies and empowering local management in Nigeria; Afren also
has a strong track record of working with Nigerian contractors and financial
institutions. FHN has been created to build on - and extend - this platform.
It will be fully capitalized at the time of consummating new acquisitions.
FHN will fulfill the Nigerian government’s criteria for indigenous operators,
and will be used as a vehicle to acquire substantial oil and gas assets in
Nigeria, including stakes in assets currently under negotiation, assets that
may become available that are currently held by international independents
and by the joint ventures between the Nigerian government and International
Oil Companies, and assets that may be divested in connection with indigenous
licensing rounds. FHN will also investigate opportunities to acquire the
assets of other Nigerian indigenous companies, as appropriate.
Over time, FHN will be owned by a wider Nigerian stakeholder base, ensuring
diversity of ownership and a reflection of Nigeria’s national character.
Subject to market conditions, it is the intention that FHN will seek a
listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in due course. FHN has been assisted
in this task by FCMB and GTBank as financial advisors in Nigeria and Morgan
Stanley as international advisor, Deloitte LLP as tax and audit advisor, and
White & Case LLP as international legal advisor.
Background
Afren was founded in late 2004 with the vision to become the premier
pan-African independent exploration and production company. The Company has
pursued a differentiated strategy based on partnerships with indigenous
companies, African National Oil Companies and Governments. The Company has a
strong African representation in its board of directors and amongst its
management and shareholders.
Afren is also committed to working towards a solution to monetize the vast
untapped gas reserves in the Gulf of Guinea, as evidenced by its cooperation
with EdF, E.ON Ruhrgas and Gasol plc. Over this period, the Company has
acquired stakes in 15 assets across 6 African countries, and currently has
production of circa 26,000 boepd and 2P recoverable reserves from existing
projects of 86 mmboe, with net unrisked resources from its exploration
portfolio in excess of 500 mmboe.
Afren has established a strong presence and track record in sub-Saharan
Africa’s largest resource base, Nigeria, and has demonstrated its long-term
commitment to working in partnership with indigenous companies and fully
capitalizing on local management expertise. More than 70% of the Company’s
existing reserves and production originates from Nigeria. In early 2009,
Afren announced the successful appraisal of the Ebok development (in
partnership with Oriental Energy Resources, Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation and Exxon Mobil), which is set to deliver an additional 35,000
barrels of oil per day by the end of 2010.
FHN has been established to capitalize on the Company’s existing platform
and to actualize the Company’s vision of achieving broader African ownership
in the upstream sector.
Governance
The initial board of directors will comprise of Egbert Imomoh, (Chairman,
Afren), Alhaji Magaji Muhammad Inuwa, Chief (Dr) Oladele Fajemirokun, Dr
Jonathan Long (Chairman of FCMB), Constantine Ogunbiyi (Director, Afren),
Ethelbert J.L. Cooper (Co-Founder of Afren), a nominee from GTBank’s board
and Osman Shahenshah (Chief Executive, Afren).
Biographical data of the board is as follows:
Egbert Imomoh:
Prior to his present position as Chairman of Afren Plc, Mr Imomoh, a founder
of Afren,was Managing Director and Executive Chairman of Afren Energy
Resources Limited. He successfully led the growth of Afren’s Nigerian asset
base, established partnerships with indigenous companies and realised the
First Oil milestone at the Okoro Setu project. Mr Imomoh served as Deputy
Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigeria), one of
the Shell Group’s largest operating companies, which is responsible for
operating the joint venture that produces approximately one million barrels
of oil per day. He is also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers
and has served on its board as Regional Director for Africa.
Magaji Mohammad Inuwa:
Alhaji Inuwa has over 40 years experience in the Nigerian mining and steel
industry. He has acted as Board member and Chairman of several companies
including Makeri Smelting Company, Netcodietsmann Nigeria Limited, amongst
others. He was until recently the Chairman of the Federal Government and
Steel Companies Administrative Panel of Enquiry and he was a member of the
Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee. He holds a Bachelors degree in
Physics and Chemistry. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Materials,
Minerals and Mining and the Nigeria Metallurgical Society, as well as a
member of the Nigeria Mining and Geosciences Society.
Chief (Dr) Oladele Fajemirokun:
Chief Fajemirokun is Chairman and Director of several companies, including
American International Insurance Company Plc (AIICO Plc Group), Xerox HS,
Food Concepts and Entertainment Group, Kings Guard Group Limited and
Multishield Limited. He has a BSc in Economics from the University of Ife
(now Obafemi Awolowo University) and is an Honorary Doctor of Business
Administration from City University Los Angeles, USA. He is also a fellow of
the Institute of Directors.
Dr Jonathan Long:
Dr Long is the Chairman of FCMB. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from
Balliol College and a Doctorate degree from St. Antony’s College, both at
Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He has over twenty five years
corporate finance experience working in merchant banking in the United
Kingdom, Switzerland and Nigeria. He was a Manager, Corporate Finance, with
Charterhouse Japhet Limited in London, where he was involved with the
establishment of Charterhouse Petroleum Securities Limited as well as
advising jointly with City Securities on a proposed restructuring of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in 1979. He joined First City
Merchant Bank Limited in 1985 as Deputy Managing Director, was appointed
Managing Director in 1987 and subsequently Chairman in 2005. Over the last
twenty four years, he has led numerous project teams advising the Nigerian
Government, major multinational clients or large local corporate
institutions on major financial transactions. He is also a director of
Kakawa Discount House Limited.
Ethelbert Cooper:
Mr Cooper is an Economics graduate from Yale University and has been active
in the African natural resources sector for over 25 years. During the 1980s
he devised and led an initiative to restructure what, at the time, was
Liberia’s biggest industrial project - an iron ore mining company with
capital investment of over US$600 million. Mr Cooper also formed Liberia’s
principal mining parastatal, whose management, marketing and financing
requirements were previously contracted to Mr Cooper’s companies. Mr Cooper
- a Liberian national - led the team that founded Afren.
Osman Shahenshah:
Mr Shahenshah is a founder of Afren. He has over 20 years experience of oil
and gas finance. His international career began with Credit Suisse First
Boston and has included senior positions in the oil and gas finance groups
of the International Finance Corporation (private sector arm of the World
Bank), and the investment banking divisions of Dresdner Kleinwort
Wasserstein and Mediocredito Centrale. Mr Shahenshah has been actively
involved in the African Oil & Gas sector for more than 15 years, working
with companies including Shell, Chevron, Total, ENI and the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation. He holds a PhD from the University of
Pennsylvania, a Master’s Degree from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s
Degree from Brown University.
Constantine Ogunbiyi:
Mr Ogunbiyi is a founder of Afren and he has served as an Associate Director
and Special Assistant to the previous Chairman, General Counsel for the
Group as well as a Director of Afren’s Nigerian wholly-owned subsidiaries.
He has significant and extensive experience of private equity, acquisition,
structured, trade and project finance, and public and private partnerships
in the African energy and infrastructure sectors in particular.
Prior to joining Afren, he was the Deputy Head of Cadwalader, Wickersham &
Taft LLP’s Africa Practice. Before this, Mr Ogunbiyi spent over four years
with Herbert Smith’s International Finance and Banking Department. He has
also served as a strategic adviser to the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) Business Group and the Southern African Development
Community’s (SADC) Banking Association’s PPP Unit. He holds Legal
Qualifications from the universities of London (King’s College),Passau
(Germany) and Oxford.
Egbert Imomoh, Chairman of Afren, commented
“Afren has established a strong track record of working with indigenous
companies in Nigeria, in line with the Company’s strategy since inception. I
am very proud to be leading the establishment of First Hydrocarbon Nigeria
Limited, as a majority Nigerian owned oil and gas champion in the indigenous
Nigerian E&P space. We strongly believe the indigenous E&P sector has the
potential to become a major force within the Nigerian upstream arena and the
establishment of FHN is a demonstration of our commitment to this
objective.”
Tayo Adenirokun, Managing Director of GTBank , commented
”GTBank has lent strong support to Afren in Nigeria, since its participation
in the debt facility to finance the Company’s flagship Okoro project in
Nigeria. We are delighted to be alongside Afren, at the forefront in helping
to fulfill the Government’s objective of growing the indigenous participation
in the Nigerian upstream sector.”
Dr Jonathan Long, Chairman of FCMB, commented ”We welcome and support this
initiative to create an indigenous Nigerian E&P champion.
Afren has worked extensively with Nigerian communities, partners and
contractors since inception, and we look forward to helping to encourage a
wider Nigerian ownership of prized Nigerian oil and gas assets.”
Enquiries:
Afren plc +44 20 7451 9700
Osman Shahenshah Chief Executive
Galib Virani Investor Relations
Pelham Public Relations +44 20 7337 1500
James Henderson
Mark Antelme
Notes to editors
First City Monument Bank
First City Monument Bank (www.firstcitybank.com) is a universal banking
institution headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria with a nationwide network of
about 150 branches and several subsidiaries. FCMB is the flagship company of
the First City Group, one of Nigeria’s leading comprehensive financial
services providers. Since FCMB’s establishment as First City Merchant Bank
Limited in 1982, FCMB has distinguished itself in the provision of superior
financial services to a broad clientele. Following a universal banking
license in 2000 the bank’s name was changed to First City Monument Bank Plc,
retaining its popular acronym, FCMB.
FCMB has total assets in excess of US$3 billion and shareholders fund of
over US$ 0.8 billion.
Guaranty Trust Bank
Guaranty Trust Bank plc (www.gtbplc.com) is a leading Nigerian banking
institution incorporated in 1990 with a nationwide network of over 150
branches. It operates in three geographic regions: Nigeria, Rest of West
Africa (comprising Ghana, Gambia and Sierra Leone) and Europe. Its
subsidiaries include Guaranty Trust Bank Gambia,Guaranty Trust Bank Sierra
Leone, Guaranty Trust Bank Ghana and Guaranty Trust Bank UK Limited.
GTBank has over US$6 billion of total assets and shareholders funds in
excess of US$1.1 billion
