Junior oil and gas player 3D Energi Ltd (ASX: TDO) has had a run of good news of late, but that positive run looks to have ground to an abrupt halt with the news it's fallen short on paying its joint venture costs.
Back in November, we reported that the company's shares were hitting a new 12-month high after a drilling campaign it was involved in had struck gas off the Victorian coast.
3D shares traded as high as 18.5 cents on the news, and it was just the start for the company, which announced a second gas discovery from the drilling campaign in late December.
The company updated the market on that find in early January, with Executive Chair Noel Newell saying they were "incredibly excited'' by it.
But all of this work has come at a cost, and it's a cost the small company appears to be finding a struggle to pay for.
Image source: Getty Images
Joint venture payments in arrears
3D Energi holds a 20% stake in the exploration program, while ConocoPhillips serves as the operator with a 51% stake, and Korea National Oil Company owns the remaining 29%.
The small Australian company told the ASX in a statement on Tuesday that it had asked for its shares to be suspended from trading while it figures out the impact on its default over joint venture payments.
The company said:
Joint Venture cash calls for the drilling program are higher than originally forecast and a balance of approximately US$2.5 million remains outstanding by the company which it does not currently have. A default notice has been issued by the joint venture operator to the company with a remedy period to 6th February. Additional forecast company drilling program expenditure subject to cash calls due on 6th February is currently estimated at approximately US$5.3 million, which if not paid by that date may well become the subject of an additional default notice and remedy period.
3D said it was implementing a suspension of trade in its shares while it "addresses its funding position'' and the implications of payment default on the level of its ongoing interest in the drilling program.
It said further:
The Joint Operating Agreement for the joint venture contains industry standard mechanisms to address default payment matters, including notice, cure and cost reconciliation processes and potential dilution or buy-out of a party's participating interest.
3D shares last traded at 8 cents, valuing the company at $41.9 million.
