Impact Oil & Gas completes South African asset sale and refocuses on Namibia

Impact Oil & Gas has completed the sale of its South African exploration subsidiary to a company owned by its majority shareholder, Deepkloof, fellow Impact shareholder Meren Energy (TSX:MER; Nasdaq Stockholm:MER) said on November 12. The sale leaves Impact’s main assets offshore Namibia, although Impact retains indirect exposure to South Africa through a stake in Africa Energy Corp.

Impact sold its entire shareholding in Impact Africa Limited, which holds its South African exploration licences, along with certain related assets, to Impact Energies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deepkloof. The restructuring, announced on May 26, closed after the required South African regulatory approvals and joint-venture partner consents. Completion had been expected in the third quarter, IntelliNews reported at the time.

Impact intends to change its corporate name to distinguish itself from Impact Energies. Meren said the planned name change would leave Impact’s assets and shareholdings intact.

Impact CEO Siraj Ahmed called completion “an important milestone for Impact”, according to the company’s closing statement, which said the Venus partners were working towards a final investment decision. Impact said the buyer would operate as a standalone business focused on advancing the South African exploration portfolio.

Impact’s main assets are its 9.5% participating interests in each of Block 2912 (PEL 91) and Block 2913B (PEL 56) offshore Namibia. PEL 56 contains the Venus light-oil discovery, operated by TotalEnergies (EPA:TTE; NYSE:TTE). Meren said its effective interest in Venus, held through its shareholding in Impact, was unchanged.

Impact keeps its roughly 20% stake in Africa Energy Corp. (TSXV:AFE), which holds an indirect interest in Block 11B/12B offshore South Africa.

Meren CEO Oliver Quinn said the restructuring left Impact a simpler, lower-cost Namibia-focused business. Meren said it would no longer bear the costs of managing and maintaining the South African exploration assets sold by Impact. Meren retains its separate direct carried interest in South Africa’s Block 3B/4B.

In its November 10 quarterly results, Meren said front-end engineering and design for Venus had been completed and the main contractors had been selected. TotalEnergies was still discussing fiscal terms with Namibia’s government as the partners worked towards a final investment decision.