| NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN |
| This announcement is not an offer for sale, or a solicitation of an offer to acquire, securities in any jurisdiction, including in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, or Japan. Neither this announcement nor any part of it shall form the basis of or be relied on in connection with or act as an inducement to enter into any contract or commitment whatsoever. |
Upland Resources Limited (LSE: UPL), the oil and gas company actively building a portfolio of attractive upstream assets in proven, mature south-east Asian and north African basins, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the “MOU“) with Bruneian oil and gas industry services provider Viddacom (B) Sdn Bhd (“Viddacom”) to jointly evaluate and licence oil and gas exploration opportunities within Brunei Darassalam.
Viddacom is a privately owned fully integrated oil and gas services company based in Brunei Darassalam with a client base that includes major regional players such as Brunei Shell, Petroleum Brunei, Petronas and Total. The MOU represents a 60:40 joint venture partnership (Upland: Viddacom) with pro-rata cost and revenue allocations and has been established to evaluate and pursue licence interests in Brunei Darassalam. The agreement allows both parties to work together exclusively within Brunei Darassalam for a period of up to five years and leverage the combination of Upland’s technical subsurface expertise and Viddacom’s regional oil and gas logistics and contacts within the petroleum sector.
Viddacom has an established supply base with several supporting logistics warehouses and compounds. Viddacom’s services include supplying chemicals for drilling, providing drilling rental tools, casing accessories and wellhead and wellhead lubricants and supporting their clients in-country.
Brunei Darassalam holds 1.1 billion barrels of oil reserves equivalent equating to 0.07% of the World’s reserves (Worldometer 2016) ranking 39th. Declining field production profiles have given the Brunei Petroleum Authority renewed impetus to seek new investment and welcome new qualified investors to reactivate and revaluate overlooked licence areas previously considered marginal.
Sarawak Update
Upland also notes the further positive progress in Malaysia with regards to the management of the oil and gas industry in Sarawak by the Sarawak Government. In relation to this Upland welcomes further developments with the recent decision by Petronas to withdraw its High Court appeal against paying backdated sales tax to the Sarawak Government. With out-of-court settlement between the two parties and the formation of a special body between the Federal Government and the Sarawak State Government to oversee the transition of regulation of the oil and gas industry to Sarawak, Upland is confident that a consensus between the two parties can be reached in the near term. Equally encouraging is the appointment of a Sarawakian to the main Board of Petronas as announced recently.
Upland CEO Chris Pitman commented:
‘We are very pleased to enter into this MOU and firmly believe that the combined expertise of both companies offers a mutually beneficial relationship within the oil and gas industry in Brunei. It provides the joint venture with a strong competitive advantage and we look forward to working closely with Viddacom to evaluate target interests and pursue licence applications through the Brunei Petroleum Authority.’
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse
For further information, please contact:
| Upland Resources Limited | www.upland.energy |
| Christopher Pitman, CEO | Tel: +44 (0) 7891 677441 [email protected] |
| Optiva Securities Limited | |
| Jeremy King (Corporate Finance) | Tel: 020 3137 1904 [email protected] |
| Christian Dennis (Corporate Broker) | Tel: 020 3137 1903 [email protected] |
| FTI Consulting | |
| Ben Brewerton/Molly Stewart | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1708 [email protected] |
| Flowcomms Ltd | |
| Sasha Sethi | Tel: +44 (0)7891 677441 [email protected] |