NZOG clarifies

New Zealand Oil & Gas has clarified two items in its proposed scheme of arrangement with major shareholder Ofer Global after intervention by the Takeovers Panel. The panel, responding to complaints by investors, didn’t consider comments on the proposal by the company’s advisers, or its independent directors, were misleading or deceptive. But it did request clarification on two matters — an estimated 5 per cent chance of the Ironbark prospect off northwest Australia being commercially developed, and a comment from chair Rosalind Archer that investors initially appeared to have attributed little or no value to the 15 per cent stake the firm had acquired in the venture. The panel said most complaints “appear to relate to matters of opinion where different views might honestly and reasonably be held”. Shareholders will vote on the proposal on November 14.