Caspian Sunrise agrees sale of 50pc of Explorer vessel

Gas and oil explorer Caspian Sunrise announced the conditional sale of a 50% stake in the Caspian Explorer drilling vessel for cash consideration of $22.5m on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm said the sale remained subject to the receipt of payment, and the re-registration of the sale shares in the United Arab Emirates.

It said the buyer of the stake was Stepping Stone Investments , a Seychelles-based company.

The Caspian Explorer is a specialised drilling vessel designed for use in the shallow northern Caspian Sea, where traditional deep-water rigs are not suitable.

Caspian Sunrise acquired the vessel in 2020 for $3.7m and has since used it for a safety-related contract with the North Caspian Operating Company.

In March, Caspian Sunrise announced its first drilling contract, scheduled for the summer of 2024.

The contract involves drilling a well to a planned depth of 2,500 metres for the Isatay Operating Company - a Kazakh registered explorer in which Italy's ENI is a prominent participant.

Caspian Sunrise said the conditional sale of the 50% stake pertained to Prosperity Petroleum FZE, a UAE-registered holding company of KC Caspian Explorer, which in turn owns the Caspian Explorer drilling vessel.

“The carrying value in the group's 2021 financial statements of 100% of the Caspian Explorer was $3.6m,” the board said in its statement.

“The disposal would therefore be expected to result in a gross accounting profit of approximately $20m.”

In the year ended 31 December, the Caspian Explorer had no revenue and costs of approximately $0.85m.

“The proceeds from the sale would be used in the further development of the group's assets.”

At 1248 BST, shares in Caspian Sunrise were down 4.58% at 5.25p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.