Privately owned Energy Equity Resources Ltd., Guildford, U.K., plans to acquire the E&P holdings of Syntroleum International Corp., a subsidiary of Syntroleum Corp., Tulsa, Okla., (Nasdaq: SYNM) for up to US$25 million. Energy Equity will acquire Syntroleum International Holdings Ltd. and Syntroleum International Holdings Co., which own Syntroleum’s 25% cost-bearing interest in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 113, which includes Aje Field and its 20% interest in Ajapa Field in OML 90, both offshore Nigeria. EER has paid a US$2 million deposit and will pay an additional US$10 million by April 1. An additional US$13 million could be earned from future farm-outs of the Aje Field and initial production from the Aje and Ajapa fields. Syntroleum president and chief executive Jack Holmes says, “The monetization of our upstream exploration and development
interests through this transaction is beneficial to Syntroleum on several fronts. The elimination of both our capital cost obligations and the commitment of our management resources to upstream activities, coupled with the proceeds realized from the sale, will allow us to more closely focus on the commercialization and funding of our portfolio of technologies on a global basis.” The deal is expected to close by Jan. 31.