Premier in shares plunge after denial

Markets: Stock falls after rumours of acquisitions are rejected

Premier Oil’s share price dropped by more than 10% yesterday as the firm rebuffed speculation about a potential North Sea acquisition.

Premier insisted it had not made a “firm decision” on whether to bid for a package of assets put up for sale by US oil giant Chevron.

But the company did say it would continue to look at acquisition opportunities in the UK.

London-listed Premier was responding to media reports suggesting it was mulling a number of fundraising options to help finance a deal for Chevron’s package, worth £1.17 billion.

The firm is understood to be up against a number of other oil companies, including private-equitybacked Chrysaor, Israelbased Delek Group and petrochemicals giant Ineos, The Times reported.

To generate funds for an offer, Premier is considering a rights issue or a share placing, the report said.

But a spokeswoman for Premier said yesterday: “Premier notes the press speculation regarding the possibility of the group making a UK acquisition.

“We will continue to look at opportunities to acquire UK North Sea assets in line with the strategy.

“There is no guarantee that the group will bid in any process or that any process will complete.

“No firm decision has been taken to bid for all or any of the assets being marketed by Chevron and how, in the event that the group were to be successful, the acquisition of such assets would be financed.”

Shares dropped by 11.58% to 70.25p in London.

Premier, which has a base in Kingswells, Aberdeen, restructured its finances in 2017.

“No firm decision has been taken to bid for all or any of the assets being marketed”

group’s stated

The firm’s balance sheet is gradually improving, but it still has a hefty debt pile.

Last week Premier revealed it had trimmed its net debt by £300m to £1.8bn at the end of 2018.

In July, Californiaheadquartered Chevron said it was seeking buyers for its entire central North Sea portfolio.

It recently completed the sale of its 40%-operated stake in the Rosebank development, west of Shetland, to Norway’s Equinor.

‘NO GUARANTEE’: Premier Oil said it had not yet bid for any of Chevron’s assets