According to information published on the Rockhopper Exploration PLC website; The Israeli oil exploration and exploitation company Navitas will acquire 65% of the illegal license for the Sea Lion field, which the British colony that usurps the Argentine Malvinas Islands granted to Rockhopper more than a decade ago. The committed share package will be acquired from the oil company Harbor Energy, which due to corporate restructuring is abandoning a series of projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Sea Lion; located within the Argentine continental shelf, east of Puerto Deseado (Santa Cruz) and north of Malvinas, which has guaranteed minimum reserves of more than 500 thousand barrels of oil and estimates of 1,000 million.

The Israeli hydrocarbon exploration and production company will take 65% of the Sea project and Rockhopper will take the remaining 35%. In a statement, Rockhopper is excited about being able to achieve new commercial arrangements and strategic partnerships, which will allow it to raise sufficient funds (the company itself had estimated an initial 1.5 billion dollars) to begin the ambitious plan to appropriate Argentine resources enabled by Carlos Menem and reaffirmed by Mauricio Macri. The agreement, which estimates its completion during the first quarter of 2022; It contemplates that Navitas grants Rockhopper a loan prior to the constitution of the Initial Development Fund (FID) to cover its share of two-thirds of the costs of developing the field . “The interest on the pre-FID advance will be 8%, and if the FID is positive the second tranche will be interest-free, but Rockhopper must repay it with 85% of the cash flow from its share of the development income,” quote Mercopress.

“In the event that the FID does not materialize within five years of completing the proposed transaction, Rockhopper may choose to remove the Israeli company Navitas,” he adds. Rockhopper also highlighted Navitas' experience in executing and financing large-scale oil developments. Last August, together with partners, it achieved financing in excess of US$900 million for the Shenandoah offshore project, with the operator Beacon, in the North American part of the Gulf of Mexico. The project for Sea Lion includes the drilling of 23 wells on the seabed, connected to a floating ship with capacity for storing and transshipping crude oil on the high seas.

Sources: Rockhopper https://rockhopperexploration.co.uk/2021/12/head-of-terms-with-harbour-to-exit-the-Malvinas-and-navitas-to-farm-in-2/

Mercopress https://es.mercopress.com/2021/12/09/aire-fresco-para-petroleo-de-Malvinas-la-israeli-navitas-nuevo-operador-junto-a-rockhopper-y-se-retira-harbour