Maha Energy AB: Announces an Operational and Production Update; the Appointment of New Senior Management; and the Listing of Bonds

Maha Energy AB (publ)

Biblioteksgatan 1

SE-111 46 Stockholm

www.mahaenergy.ca

  

Press release

Stockholm

1 August, 2017

This press release is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland or the United States, or in any other jurisdiction where distribution of this press release could be illegal or subject to legal restrictions. See also section IMPORTANT INFORMATION below. 

Maha Energy AB (publ) ("Maha" or the "Company") Announces an Operational and Production Update; the Appointment of New Senior Management; and the Listing of Bonds

Operational Update

The Company's aggregate production for the month of July totaled 50,574 barrels of oil and 20.973 million scf of gas for a combined average production of approximately 1,751 BOE/day^[1], before royalties and taxes which includes production from Maha's newly acquired Tie Field in Brazil from July 1, 2017.

Brazil

Production volumes from the Tartaruga field are reduced due to a downhole leak in the completion string on the 7-TTG well.  The leak was identified in May and testing is scheduled for the beginning of August to pinpoint the problem and thereafter determine a solution.  High fluid levels in the well and the abrupt reduction in production suggests a mechanical downhole problem as opposed to reservoir decline.  It is estimated the production from the 7-TTG well has been halved because of this.   Meanwhile, the recently worked over 107 D well continues to produce at expected levels.

The Tie field produces on natural flow from two zones from a single well.  During the month of July, additional crude oil was sold to a new customer which allowed the production to be increased during the first half of the month, however, crude oil production had to be reduced during the second half of the month due to gas handling issues which are being resolved.  August production is expected to increase to satisfy the demand for oil in the area.  July was a historical record month for crude oil production at the Tie Field.

A pressure maintenance project on the Tie Field in the form of water injection into both reservoirs is almost complete and is scheduled to commence in September.  Water re-injection is beneficial to the total recovery of crude oil from the field.

USA

The LAK Ranch hot water flood has now been in place for 2 months. Oil production from 12-21 has tripled as a result of the water flood, although overall fluid production remains below expectations at this point.  Conversely, 12-18 is now producing expected fluid rates, but oil production is roughly half of what is common and expected in the field.  Overall, the same level of production is maintained from half the number of wells to pre waterflood production.  Additional gains are expected over the next few months, as the total fluid production on 12-21 increases.

Up-time has increased substantially at LAK during the past 12 months, which has translated to an increase in oil production per well compared to previous periods.

Jonas Lindvall, CEO of Maha commented: "Things are going very well in Brazil and we are particularly happy with the ability to ramp up production ahead of schedule. This is in no small part due to the hard work of our new team members in Brazil, and we wish to welcome them all into Maha."

Senior Management

Following the previously announced closing of the acquisition of the Brazilian operations of Grant Tierra Energy Inc. on July 1, 2017, the Company is pleased to confirm the following appointments to its senior management team in Calgary and Brazil.

Andres Modarelli (38) - Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), Calgary

Andres Modarelli is a finance and accounting professional with over 17 years of experience, having held senior positions within Canadian private and publicly listed oil and gas companies operating domestically and internationally. Most recently, Andres consulted for Canadian E&P Tourmaline Oil Corp. following their acquisition of Mapan Energy Ltd. in 2015, where he was a cofounder and the Controller. Prior to that, Andres was interim CFO for Platino Energy Corp. and VP of Finance for C&C Energia Ltd., both E&P companies with operations in South America. Andres articled with Deloitte and has CPA designations in Canada and Argentina. He holds bachelor degrees in Commerce and Business Administration from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.   

Mark Hopkins who has been serving as Interim CFO for the past nine months returns to his full time employment at S.B. Navitas Tubular Inc.  The Company would like to thank Mark for his contribution during this busy time.   

Robert Richardson (50) - Chief Operating Officer ("COO"), Calgary

Robert Richardson has over 25 years of diversified energy experience with an extensive background in management and engineering. His diversified experience includes conventional oil & gas, secondary, tertiary & thermal recovery, shale oil and gas, acquisitions, CHOPS and renewable energy. Robert's leadership has been seen in projects such as managing the development of CNRL's Pelican Lake field from pilot to becoming one of the largest polymer floods in the world. He has a B.Sc. Engineering from the University of Alberta, a Masters Degree in Energy Business and an Engineering Science Technology Diploma from SAIT. He is a member of APEGA & Beta Gamma Sigma.

Robert replaces Tom Walker who has left his employment with Maha Energy (US) Inc. to pursue other opportunities.  The Company thanks Tom for his contribution to Maha Energy.

Luciana Borges (39) - Finance & Administration Director, Brazil

Luciana Borges has 16 years experience as a Business Administration professional with focus on Finance, in the oil and gas industry.  Luciana has been Controller of Gran Tierra Energy Brasil since 2013 with direct responsibility for finance, treasury, planning and budgeting with strong SOX compliance skills. Prior to joining Gran Tierra in 2012, Luciana worked with international oil and gas companies for over 10 years, and two years with an independent audit company.  Luciana obtained a degree in Business Administration and a post graduate degree in Finance from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro as well as a Master of Business in Petroleum from COPPE Institute.

Kleber Almeda (45) - Operations Director, Brazil

Kleber Almeida has over 16 years experience in the oil and gas industry.  Kleber has a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from Statistics School of Bahia state (ESEB), Mechanical Engineer from UNIFACS/Laureate International Universities and a degree in Petroleum Engineering from Federal University of Bahia state (UFBA).  Kleber was the Operations Director of Gran Tierra Energy Brasil since 2014.  Prior to joining Gran Tierra he has worked with national and international oil and gas companies for over 12 years.

Leticia Sa (41) - Regulatory Manager, Brazil

Leticia Sa has 20 years experience in Accounting, Planning, Budget, Direct Taxes and Regulatory areas, including 17 years with international e&p companies, such as: Gran Tierra, El Paso and Unocal. Leticia graduated in Accountancy (CA equivalent) at Federal Fluminense University - UFF, and obtained postgraduate degrees in Business Law by Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro - PUC (in course) and Petroleum & Gas Executive by Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ/COPPE.  Leticia currently acts as liaison between the Company and ANP (Agencia Nacional do Petroleo).

             

Listing of Bonds and Warrants

Maha issued a senior secured bond loan of SEK 300,000,000 on 29 May 2017, within a total framework amount of SEK 500,000,000, on the Swedish bond market together with 13,350,000 warrants for Class A shares of Maha, whereby each Warrant has a strike price of SEK 7.45 and a warrant period of four years, issued on 5 June 2017.

In this connection a prospectus was approved by, and registered with, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority in accordance with the Financial Instruments Trading Act (1991:980) on July 27, 2017. The prospectus is available on the Financial Supervisory Authority's website (www.fi.se) and on Maha's website (http://www.mahaenergy.ca)

The Corporate Bond has been admitted for trading on Nasdaq Stockholm effective Friday, July 28, 2017.  The Warrants have been admitted for trading on Nasdaq First North effective Monday, July 31, 2017.

Advisers

FNCA Sweden AB is the Company's Certified Adviser.

For more information, please contact:
               
Jonas Lindvall (CEO)
Tel: +1 403 454 7563        
Email: jonas@mahaenergy.ca

or

Ron Panchuk (CCO)

Tel: +1 403 454 7564        
Email: ron@mahaenergy.ca

Miscellaneous      

This information is published in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication through the agency of the contact persons set out above on 1 August 2017, at 0801 CET.

Maha in Brief       

Maha Energy AB is a Swedish public limited liability company.  FNCA Sweden AB has been engaged as Certified Adviser.  The Company's auditors are Deloitte.  The Company's predecessor Maha Energy Inc. was founded in 2013 in Calgary, Canada, by Jonas Lindvall and Ron Panchuk. In May 2016, the new group was formed with Maha Energy AB as parent company for purposes completing an initial public offering on the NASDAQ OMX First North Sweden stock exchange.  Jonas Lindvall is the CEO and Managing Director.  Maha's strategy is to target and develop underperforming hydrocarbon assets on global basis. The Company operates three oil fields, Tartaruga and Tie in Brazil and LAK Ranch, in Wyoming, U.S.  For more information, please visit our website www.mahaenergy.ca.

Important Information

Publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, of this press release could in some jurisdictions be subject to restrictions according to law and recipients of this press release, or part of it, are required to inform themselves of, and comply with, such legal restrictions. This press release is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland or the United States, or in any other jurisdiction where distribution of this press release could be illegal or subject to legal restrictions. Copies of this press release are not being made and may not be distributed or sent, in whole, or part, directly or indirectly, in violation of such restrictions. Failure to comply with such restrictions may constitute a criminal act under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (as amended) ("Securities Act") or applicable laws in other jurisdictions.