Red Emperor chooses not to acquire Perth Basin interest

Red Emperor Resources has taken the decision not to exercise its option to acquire a 70% operated interest in the offshore Perth Basin exploration permit, WA-481-P, it announced on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm had said on 2 December that it agreed to fund the completion of an existing committed work programme, comprising geological and geophysical studies, for the final year of the existing permit term, up to a capped amount of AUD 0.15m (£0.08m).

Contemporaneous with such a work programme being completed, the existing joint venture partners, Pilot Energy at 60% and Key Petroleum at 40%, in conjunction with Red Emperor, formally applied to the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) for a renewal of the permit, which expired on 19 February.

“NOPTA recently advised the joint venture partners that their renewal application was successful, however Red Emperor has decided not to exercise its option, which expired at midnight on 5 June,” the board said in its statement.

“The company continues to conduct high level due diligence on a number of projects around the world and looks forward to updating its evaluation of such opportunities as they progress.”

At 1015 BST, shares in Red Emperor Resources were down 4.25% at 0.53p.