Cyprus Opportunity Energy plc (CSE: GAS), a subsidiary of
Israel Opportunity - Oil and Gas Exploration Ltd. listed its shares for trading
on the Cyprus Stock Exchange last week, at a market value of €14 million.
Sources inform ''Globes'' that Cyprus Opportunity plans to hold a public
offering in 2013. It is a sister company ofIsrael Opportunity Energy
Resources LP(TASE:ISOP.L).
Cyprus
Opportunity is controlled by Israeli, Norwegian, and Cypriot shareholders. The
Israeli shareholders are Rony Halman and Uri Aldubi, the general partners of
Israel Opportunity. The Norwegian shareholders are the owners of AGR Group
Inc., which is jointly bidding with Cyprus Opportunity for two of the offshore
exploration licenses that the Cypriot government is offering - Block 2 and
Block 8.
The two
companies submitted their bids on May 11, as part of the 2nd Licensing Round
tender for 12 offshore licenses. Cyprus Opportunity acquired 2D seismic data on
which it has already performed preliminary analysis as part of its business
strategy. The Cypriot government is due to publish the results of the tender in
November. Cyprus Opportunity says that even if it does not win in the tender,
it will continue to operate in the Cypriot offshore oil and gas exploration
business through joint ventures with third parties.
Israel
Opportunity owns 5-10% of the five of the deep-water Pelagic licenses - Aditya,
Ishai, Lela, Yahav, and Yoad - covering 500,000 acres 170 west of Haifa,
between Leviathan's Ratio Yam and Block 12, which includes the Aphrodite
structure, in Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Israel Opportunity owns
10% of the licenses, Beny Steinmetz and Teddy Sagi each own 42.5%, and AGR owns
5%.
Cyprus
says that Cyprus Opportunity is the first oil and gas exploration company to
list on the stock exchange. The Cyprus Stock Exchange is still recovering from
a corruption and insider trading scandal from almost ten years ago.
25
consortia have filed 15 bids for the 12 licenses. Industry sources believe that
the size of the signature fee that the bidders will offer the Cypriot
government will be an important factor in selecting the winners. The Cypriot
government and the gas developers will sign production sharing contracts.