Lidsey oil site near Bognor Regis in West Sussex. Photo: Used with the owner’s consent

Angus Energy – the company behind oil sites in southern England – announced today it was looking into transactions of shares held by its chairman. It also claimed oil at one of its sites was higher quality than Brent Crude.

Shares investigation

Jonathan Tidswell-Pretorius. Photo: Angus Energy

In a statement issued this morning, Angus said it was investigating the case of 39 million shares held by Jonathan Tidswell-Pretorius (right).

A previous notice from the company on 29 June 2018 gave details of the chairman’s shareholding.

It now appears his 39 million shares had been transferred to America 2030 Capital Limited. It is currently unclear whether this is an American company or a British-registered company of the same name.

The statement said the transfer was “in contemplation of a possible equity linked loan against his shareholding”.

Of the shares transferred, 10.8 million had been disposed of.

The statement added:

“He [Mr Tidswell-Pretorius] contests America 2030’s rights to sell any of these shares on the basis that the associated documentation in relation to a possible loan was never finalised nor has he authorised any share sales on his behalf.

“The Company will continue to investigate this matter as a matter of priority and update the Market as and when there is anything further to report.”

Oil analysis results

Another statement issued by Angus this morning said analysis of oil from the Kimmeridge formation at its Lidsey site in West Sussex found evidence of “good quality” oil.

The statement said the lowest quality crude was “light, 38.5 degree API oil in the natural fracture system”. Brent Oil is 36 API, Angus said.

Angus Energy’s Chief Geologist, Andrew Hollis, said:

“The significance of this assessment is that we now have demonstrable evidence of oil generation of good quality on the outer perimeter of the basin.

“This supports our conclusion that the Weald Basin Kimmeridge play is robust and the highest maturity will be found in the centre of the Weald at Brockham, Balcombe, Holmwood and Horse Hill.”

He predicted that oil at these sites “could produce even lighter, sweeter crude at 40 API”.

Paul Vonk, Angus Managing Director, said the results demonstrated there was “movable oil in the Kimmeridge at Lidsey”. This “de-risks our assets” at Brockham and the Holmwood sites in Surrey and Balcombe in West Sussex, he said.

Share movements in Angus Energy, 3 July 2018. Source: London South East

Shares in Angus Energy initially rose to 7.75p from yesterday’s close of 6.5p. At the time of writing the share price were back at 6.5p.