TORONTO, ONTARIO — (Marketwire) — 07/14/11 — 3P International Energy Corp. (the “Corporation” or “3P”) (TSX VENTURE: DOH) today announced that it has received the approval of the Anti-Monopoly Committee of the Ukraine (Ukraine Competition Approval),as well as conditional approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, to acquire all of the shares of JSC Tysagaz. The purchase price is USD $17,000,000, subject to working capital adjustments, and will be funded from cash in hand. The entering into of a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Tysagaz was announced by 3P on May 24, 2011, and the definitive purchase agreement has been filed on . Management expects that the acquisition will be completed in early August.
Overview of JSC Tysagaz
Tysagaz is an operating company with permits, technical and human resources for oil and gas exploration, production and marketing. The company–s head office is located in Uzhgorod-city (regional center of the Transcarpathian region). The company was setup to produce natural gas with the initial focus being the Transcarpathian region of Western Ukraine.
The Transcarpathian Basin is a 7,500km2 region bordering Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and a subset of the prolific Panonian and Carpathian basins.
Tysagaz–s core assets are the 4 natural gas licenses, including production, operations and infrastructure adjacent to one of Ukraine–s main natural gas pipelines into Europe. The area has been well studied and documented, is relatively shallow and offers a balance of proven reserves with the ability to convert a considerable amount of contingent reserves to the proven/probable category fairly quickly.
Sproule International Limited Reserve Report
Sproule International Limited has delivered a National Instrument 51-101 compliant Reserve Report to the board which will be filed on connection with the closing of the acquisition of Tysagaz. This report was commissioned to focus solely on the lone producing field, the RusskoKomarivskoye Field. There are 3 other significant licenses areas being acquired for a total of 320 KM/Sq including the Stanivskoye Field which also has all the required infrastructure and a discovery management believes has significant development potential as well.
Ron MacMicken, 3P–s Chief Executive Officer, stated “We are extremely excited to apply our expertise and capital to growing this operation and leveraging the proven and probable reserves. The gas price received quarter ending June 30, 2011 at Tysagaz was approximately USD $9.08 mcf and as of July 1 2011 has increased once again to over USD $10 mcf. Having proven and probable reserves and the operating permits/licenses and infrastructure to monetize our gas is what drew us to the Tysagaz assets. We believe this is a unique asset and one which has significant upside development potential. The team is excited to unveil our 3 stage development plan to the market in the coming weeks.”
Robert Hodgins to join Board of Directors as Chairman of the Audit Committee; Steven VanSickle to assume role of Lead Independent Director
Robert B (Bob) Hodgins has been appointed to the Board of Directors of 3P and has been appointed as Chairman of the Audit Committee. Mr. Hodgins has held executive roles in the oil and gas sector in a career that spanned 25 years with several senior Canadian corporations and is now an investor and professional director.
Most recently, from 2002 to 2004, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Pengrowth Energy Trust. Beginning in 1998, he was Vice President and Treasurer of Canadian Pacific Limited. Prior to that he was Chief Financial Officer of Trans Canada Pipelines Limited from 1993 to 1998 and held other senior positions at Trans Canada commencing in 1981. Mr. Hodgins is on the board of several well known oil and gas companies including Altagas Inc., Enerplus Corporation, MEG Energy Corp. and Fairborne Energy.
Greg Cameron, 3P–s Chairman, stated “The addition of Mr. Hodgins to the Board of Directors further strengthens the board with seasoned oil and gas professionals and will provide the necessary guidance and financial acumen as 3P unveils its development plan to aggressively grow Tysagaz and its other assets in the Ukraine.”
In connection with his appointment to the Board of Directors, Mr. Hodgins has been granted 300,000 incentive stock options.
Steven VanSickle has assumed the role of Lead Independent Director of 3P, and has been granted 300,000 incentive stock options.
About 3P International Energy Corp.
3P International Energy is a Canadian-based emerging oil and gas company focused on developing and enhancing proven oil and gas reserves in Eastern Europe. In the Ukraine, 3P is a joint venture partner on a significant CBM property (512 km2) as well as announced acquisition of a conventional gas portfolio in the Eastern Ukraine. The Company–s strategy is to use proven technology, capital and expertise to significantly increase production and reserves. 3P shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the stock symbol DOH.
On behalf of the board of Directors
Gregory M. Cameron, Chairman
Forward-Looking Information
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management–s best estimates of future events. All statements that address future activities, events or developments that the Corporation believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur are forward-looking information. Forward-looking information, including the expected filing of the Reserve Report, anticipated closing of the acquisition of Tysagaz and sales of natural gas, is based upon assumptions by management that are subject to known and unknown risks and certainties beyond the Corporation–s control. There can be no assurance that outcomes anticipated in the forward-looking information will occur and actual results may differ materially for a variety of reasons. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Corporation undertakes no obligations to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking information, except as may be required by law. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to the corporation–s filings with the Canadian securities regulators available on .
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Contact Financial
Kirk Gamley
(604) 689-7422