Medco pays $150m debts to UOB
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Cashing in on the sales of interests in several of its oil blocks, publicly-listed oil and gas company PT Medco Energi Internasional has paid US$150 million dollars of its debt to the United Overseas Bank (UOB).
In a letter sent to the Indonesia Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) over the weekend, Medco said that payment was made to return parts of a bridging loan facility of $200 million it obtained from the international creditor in June last year.
"Up to Jan. 4, 2005, the Company has paid UOB a total of $150 million," said Medco's CEO Hilmi Panigoro in the letter made available to the public.
Outstanding debt of $50 million has been extended 15 months with interest rates between 3 percent and 6.5 percent higher than the one-month Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor).
All of the proceeds from the UOB bridging loan facility had been used to fund the purchase of 100 percent of Australian-based energy firm Novus Petroleum Ltd.'s shares at A$350 million last year.
The acquisition was completed in August and approved in the shareholders' meeting in September 2004.
To meet its financial obligations to creditors, Medco, the largest Indonesian-controlled private oil company, continues to sell Novus' assets, particularly minor interests in several oil and gas blocks.
In the statement, the company -- founded by businessman-turned-politician Arifin Panigoro -- announced the transfer of 18 percent of Novus' interests in the Brantas block in East Java to Santos Brantas Pty. Ltd.
"On Monday, Dec. 27, 2004, the Oil and Gas Upstream Regulatory Body (BP Migas) approved the transfer," Medco stated.
Santos has also acquired interests of Medco's other oil blocks, namely 6.25 percent of the Kakap Block, located off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia, 4.76 percent of South Africa's Cooper Basin and almost 3 percent of Patchawarra East of Australia.
Medco received the proceeds of the asset sale of $98 million from Santos on Dec. 31 last year.
On the same day, its subsidiary, Novus, signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement to relieve its working interest at Stratton Field in Texas, the United States, amounting to 30 percent, to the Apache Corporation.
Apache, the operator of the oil field, directly paid the $45.26 million required for the transaction.
Medco reported a 7 percent rise in its third quarter net profit in 2004 to $44.5 million as compared to the same period the previous year thanks to the surge in oil prices and additional production from Novus.
Production from Novus has helped add 5,000 barrels of oil per day to the company's declining oil production, which is primarily due to the age and depreciation of its Kaji Semoga oil fields in Rimau regency, South Sumatra.
At present, Medco's assets are estimated at $1.42 billion.