Zoltav Resources buys oil assets in south-west Russia

18th Jun 2014 13:45

Russian oil and gas explorer and producer Zoltav Resources has bought Royal Atlantic Energy (Cyprus) for $180m.The deal gives Zoltav 100% ownership of the Bortovoy licence in the Saratov region of south-west Russia - a 3,215 sq km area containing several productive gas fields, a processing plant and significant exploration potential.Bortovoy contains proved and probable reserves of 750bn cubic feet of gas and 3.9m barrels of oil and condensate.Zoltav already holds the Koltogor exploration and production licence, which contains the Koltogor oil field with proved and probable reserves of 75.2m barrels of oil in western Siberia. It also has the Koltogor exploration licence 10, on which Zoltav is engaged in an exploration and appraisal programme.It has raised about $65.9m from ARA Capital, Crediton Invest and Matteson Overseas through the issue of about 41.2m shares at US$1.60 each.The company now has about 141.3m shares admitted to trading on AIM.Chairman Symon Drake-Brockman said the deal would add both considerable reserves to the group, as well as its first commercial gas and oil production."In addition, we are constantly reviewing potential acquisition targets and will continue our acquisition strategy where we believe value can be achieved for shareholders," he said.Shares in Zoltav rose 15p or 8.8% to 185p by 14:46 in London.PW