Westmount Energy takes stake in JHI Associates

Westmount Energy has purchased 1,350,000 shares in JHI Associates, it announced on Tuesday, through the issue of 15,930,000 new ordinary Westmount shares, representing around 12.7% of its enlarged issued capital.

The AIM-traded firm described JHI as a private, Ontario-registered company founded in 2014, and focussed on oil exploration opportunities in the emerging Guyana-Suriname Basin.

It said its main asset is a 17.5% carried interest in the Canje Block, covering more than 4,800 square kilometres, offshore Guyana.

That block is located adjacent to, and in the same geologic basin, as the Stabroek Block, which has delivered 16 substantial oil discoveries since 2015, with reported discovered recoverable resources in excess of eight billion oil-equivalent barrels to date.

ExxonMobil, which is the operator of both blocks, acquired more than 6,100 square kilometres of 3D seismic on the Canje Block in 2016.

Subsequent processing and interpretation of that dataset had been used to define a substantial prospect inventory on the block, with three prospects - Bulletwood, Jabillo, and Sapote - high-graded as potential targets for the initial drilling campaign.

As a result of a 2018 farm-out to Total, JHI was carried for the drilling of up to four wells and was funded for the drilling of additional wells.

Subject to Guyanese government approvals, drillship availability and the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, it was expected that the first well on the Canje Block - Bulletwood-1 - would be spudded in the second half of 2020, with the possibility of additional drilling by the end of the year.

Following the purchase, Westmount holds a total of 3,563,770 shares in JHI, representing about 4.8% of the issued common shares in JHI as counted on 13 November 2019.

At cost, Westmount's holding equates to about 38.1% of the value of Westmount's gross assets as at 31 December.

Westmount reported a profit for the year ended 30 June of £2m, whereas JHI reported a profit before tax of $43.3m for the year ended 31 December.

“This investment is consistent with Westmount's strategy of seeking exposure to opportunities in the prolific Guyana-Suriname Basin, which the board considers to be a major emerging hydrocarbon province,” the Westmount board said in its statement.

At 1514 BST, shares in Westmount Energy were up 16.93% at 12.86p.