VANCO DISCLOSES ITS STRATEGIC PARTNERS IN THE PROJECT OF PRIKERCHENSKIY SHELF EXPLORATION IN THE BLACK SEA

Vanco News Conference Press Release Kyiv, Ukraine, 15 May 2008

Vanco company that won the open tender on exploration of Prikerchenskiy shelf in the Black Sea on terms of the Product Sharing Agreement (PSA) in April 2006 has introduced its financial partners.  The volume of project financing provided by the investors within the next 8 years will exceed $ 330 mln. The overall amount of investments in exploration and development of the shelf area will be no less than $ 15 bln. Vanco company, having unique experience in geological exploration and deep-water drilling, will be responsible for technical support of the project.

The pool of investors comprises international investment companies and the largest Ukrainian energy holding:  

Donbass Fuel-Energy Company (DTEK) – is the leader of Ukrainian fuel-energy complex, the company manages the energy assets of System Capital Management (SCM), a leading financial and industrial group of Ukraine. The consolidated revenue of the group whose enterprises employ over 160 000 people was $6.7 bln. in 2006. SCM concentrates its activities in four key sectors of business: metallurgy, energy sector, banking & insurance and telecommunications. Besides, SCM owns and manages assets in other business sectors in Ukraine, EU countries and Switzerland. The value of the Group’s assets by the end of 2006 was $11.4 bln. (DTEK’s value by the end of 2007 was $2.6 bln.), the investments in 2007 were over $1 bln. DTEK’s development strategy for the nearest years envisages development of the existing assets portfolio, implementation of M&A programme and diversification of the energy business.

Integrum Technologies Ltd. - is a subsidiary of a large Austrian investment holding. The company was established to realize investment projects in the Eastern European and CIS countries. The holding is successfully investing into the banking, development, metallurgical and energy sectors of business. The value of the managed assets exceeds a hundred million dollars. The volume of investments in 2007 was more than $100 mln. One of the strategic projects for Integrum Technologies Ltd by now is allocation of managerial and financial resources for successful implementation of the exploration and operational works at Prikerchenskiy district of the Black Sea shelf in the framework of the PSA.

Shadowlight Investments Ltd. – is the investment company of the Russia’s businessman Evgeniy Novitskiy, whose investment activities cover the CIS and EU countries and comprise telecommunications, banking, energy and other sectors. The assets managed by the company total $500 mln. According to 2007 information, the company’s investments exceeded $100 mln. Shadowlight company was established for the purpose of financing the project of Prikerchenskiy shelf exploration in the Black Sea. 

Reference
Vanco – is an independent company dealing with geological exploration of oil-and-gas fields. The company is owned by its founder Gene Van Dyke. Vanco’s experience comprises the whole chain of exploration works: geological exploration aimed at revealing the promising structures and points for drilling the exploration wells as well as engineering, operational and drilling operations. In its history Vanco partnered with such companies as Lukoil, ExxonMobil, Hydro, Nexen, Shell. Within the recent 10 years Vanco has performed twelve detailed 2D-seismic researches with the total area exceeding 25 000 km2, as well as nine 3D-seismic researches with the total area of about 19 000 km2.  Jointly with Total / Unocal, Vanco took part in drilling four deep-water wells in Gabon. In particular, the world record of the early first decade of new era has been established in Gabon Judy-1 well – drilling at the see depth of 2791 m. Jointly with Nexon company, Vanco has drilled two deep-water wells in Equatorial Guinea. Vanco was the independent operator in drilling the deep-water wells in Morocco (the well at the see depth of 2125 m) and Côte d’Ivoire (the well at the see depth of 1735 m).

The project is aimed at exploration of the oil and/or gas at Prikerchenskiy shelf in the Black Sea. The site includes three promising districts – Sudakskiy fold belt (North-East), Sudakskiy deep-water fold belt, and Tetyaev district. The total area of the site is 12 960 km2, sea depth varies from 70 to 2 200 m.