Nautilus Marine Services ups efforts to offload Colombian assets

24th Jan 2019 15:37

(Sharecast News) - Nautilus Marine Services announced on Thursday that it intended to increase its efforts toward the near-term divestiture of its oil and gas assets located in Colombia, in response to "escalating interest" it reported from multiple parties during late 2018. The AIM-traded company had said in its 2018 interim report that it had begun evaluating divestment and strategic partnering opportunities for its oil and gas assets, which consisted of the Bolivar and Bocachico contract areas within the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin of Colombia, during the prior year."Following these initial evaluations, the board and management team at Nautilus believe the sale of the company's assets in the Middle Magdalena Basin presents a significant opportunity to realise cash value from these non-strategic assets while eliminating the associated annual operating costs and future abandonment obligations," the Nautilus board said in its statement."It should be noted that these efforts toward a near-term divestiture may not result in an acceptable transaction being identified or completed at this time."In that event, the board said Nautilus would continue to operate its oil and gas assets in accordance with its previously-communicated plans, with a focus on maintaining contractual and environmental compliance at both fields.