PetroNeft an oil and gas exploration and production company, operating in the Tomsk Oblast, Russian Federation and 90% owner and operator of Licence 67 and 50% owner and operator of Licence 61, today provides a financing update. 

Convertible Loan facility

In June 2019, PetroNeft agreed a convertible loan facility of US$1.3 million with a group of five lenders with a revised Convertible loan maturity date of 31st December 2021. Throughout 2021, the group of five lenders at various times elected to convert 65% of their loan advance into Ordinary Equities of PetroNeft Resources plc. The Company is now pleased to announce that it has reached agreement with the five lenders to extend the term of the remaining loan balance of $0.455 million under the following terms:

• Extension to the Maturity date from 31st December 2021 to 31st December 2022.

• Interest rate to remain at 8% above LIBOR. 

• The remaining loan balance may be converted fully at Stg0.06p per Ordinary Equity Share in PetroNeft, at any time up to the revised maturity date at the option of the loan holders.

The loan was provided by a group of five investors. Four of the investors are related parties (as defined in the AIM Rules and Euronext Growth Market Rules). Details of the loan amounts which remain outstanding to these related parties are outlined in the table below. The directors of the Company, other than Alastair McBain, Daria Shaftelskaya, and David Sturt, having consulted with the Company’s Nominated Advisor and Euronext Growth Market adviser, consider the terms for the extension of the loan facility to be fair and reasonable insofar as the Company’s shareholders are concerned. 

PetroNeft Chief Executive Officer, David Sturt, welcomed the extension:
“PetroNeft is a tight team, and we continue to benefit from the experience and expertise of our senior Management team to devise and deliver a fiscally robust capital structure to drive the business forward. I believe the agreed loan extension is a welcome development, combined with the added opportunity for the investors to convert at Stg0.06p per Ordinary Equity Share, which represents a significant 52.6 % premium above the average closing for the last 5 trading days and is a further vote of confidence in the growth momentum PetroNeft can achieve in the coming year.”

KeyFacts Energy: PetroNeft Russia country profile