CORP. / Mantaur farm-in; Trinidad
MANTAUR PETROLEUM CORPORATION
Stock Symbol: ''MTUR'' - CDN
TORONTO, July 2 /CNW/ - Enron Gas & Oil Trinidad has advised Mantaur's
Eastern Petroleum subsidiary that Enron will not honour the terms of its Farm
In Agreement for the East Brighton offshore project in Trinidad. On October
10, 1997, Enron undertook, subject only to Trinidad government approvals, to
reimburse seismic costs of US$1.2 million and pay 100% of the costs of an
exploratory well on the East Brighton offshore Block and thereby earn a 50%
interest in the 82 km(2) property.
Eastern acquired a 70% interest in the property from Premier Oil B.V.
under an agreement which terminated June 30, 1998. An appropriate extension is
now being discussed. The purchase from Premier provided for the same cash and
drilling obligations of Eastern as were negotiated in the Eastern/Enron
agreement.
Premier is supportive of Eastern/Mantaur's continuing effort to replace
Enron with a suitable partner to fund the project and discussions are
currently being held with several interested oil companies.
In the period October 10, 1997 to June 23, 1998 Enron continued to
express its intent to proceed under the Agreement. The Trinidad government
approvals for the transaction with Enron and Eastern were led by Enron but
were delayed for six months because of a disagreement between Enron and the
Trinidad state oil company (''Petrotrin'') on matters completely unrelated to
East Brighton. The dispute was resolved in May and the Petrotrin approval
received on May 7, 1998, naming Enron as operator of the Petrotrin/Eastern/
Enron joint venture for the East Brighton property. In the period May 7 to
June 23rd, Enron actively worked with Eastern, Petrotrin and Premier to
conclude agreements, obtain a six month extension to the drilling date and
secure a rig. This joint work was essentially completed when Enron Trinidad
advised of a corporate decision to withdraw.
In light of the foregoing, Mantaur is considering its options including
legal action if necessary.
Mantaur Petroleum is a Canadian oil exploration company focussing on its
projects in Trinidad and Mongolia. Mantaur is presently reviewing two other
large international natural gas and oil projects. The presently issued share
capital of Mantaur is 19,382,310 common shares (20.6 million shares fully
diluted).
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For further information: Gary J. Last, President, Telephone:
(416) 363-9203, Facsimile: (416) 363-9015
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