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KUWAIT DEAL SIGNED PICTURES AND ALL AT THE SIGNING

dont forget about Italy which has a high value and up for sale Independent Resources PLC, (LSE AIM: IRG) Our price target of 143p thus equates to; 66.7p CBM; 61.5p Tunisia exploration; 14.6p gas storage The pre‐permitting undiscounted value per share is around 97p and merely accounting for the pre‐planning transaction value, the true value of the project post planning is likely to be multiple but this still looks some way off. Even following approval, there will be a two year appraisal period including 3D seismic acquisition. Independent Resources (LON:IRG) is set for a series of important catalysts which will transform it. AIM-quoted Independent Resources (LON:IRG) is set for a busy and potentially significant time in Tunisia. In the coming weeks and months, IRG is set for a series of important catalysts which will transform it. Its main active asset of note is an 18.97% stake in Ksar Hadada, an exploration project in Tunisia The pending ratification of a new licence agreement with the Tunisian authorities will, however, set in motion a major transition. ETAP, Tunisia’s national oil and gas firm, has applied on IRG’s behalf to make the AIM quoted firm the operator of Ksar Hadada. At the same time this will increase IRG’s stake in the project massively, to 86.345%. As operator IRG will then have two years to satisfy the government’s exploration requirements, namely a seismic survey and a two well programme. As such the ratification is expected to be a significant milestone. It could see a re-rating of the group’s valuation. The upside is particularly evident given that last week’s CPR identified 108mln barrels of oil equivalent of prospective resources, which the third party reserve auditor estimates to be worth between US$263mln (gross risked) and US$837mln gross unrisked. The seismic programme, budgeted at about £2mln, could potentially get underway in the third quarter of this year. At that point, having de-risked existing prospects and identified new ones, the idea is for IRG to divest some of its recently enlarged stake in Ksar Hadada, to bring in a partner to help fund the drill programme which could get underway later this year. Chief executive Greg Coleman says a farm-down of project equity back to around 40% would be ideal. “For us 86% of this would become a big sum of money,”. We can take this a long way, but once it comes down to a development decision we need to make sure we have a good partner that can fund a decent share of this project at the development stage. “So, we’ll be looking at possible farm-outs . If we each had around 40%, that would be a pretty good level for us to be at in the long term.” The wells will be relatively shallow and relatively cheap, each likely to cost a little over £3mln. And should they follow the established blueprint of discovered fields nearby, to the south, they could come online at around 1,000 barrels a day, before stabilising at a steady 200-300 barrels per day. Whilst Ksar Hadada can be the project to pick the company’s value up off the floor in the relatively near term, the longer term strategy for IRG is to use management’s technical expertise to gain access to other projects and build a portfolio of growth assets. “Our strategy is to acquire interests in assets where we can make real differences, and can add value to assets by our contribution,” Coleman explained. “We believe we could help people drill better wells, cheaper wells and drill faster. We think can help with seismic processing and interpretation. “A lot of people struggle when it comes to the development of reservoirs, because wells are drilled in the wrong places, or don’t consider secondary recovery (like water-flooding). “And this is the case in Tunisia. For many years bigger companies haven’t really paid enough attention, so we think there are things we can do there. There are a lot of under-developed assets, and we’re aware of certain blocks of acreage that might become available, that we could look at. He adds: “But, we do have to walk before we try to run. We need to focus on getting things started right.” AIM-quoted Independent Resources (LON:IRG) revealed it was in preliminary discussions with a number of parties over a potential transaction. The company is considering a range of strategies, including farm outs, the sale of assets, and the merger or sale of the company.

Talk of an 18p bid

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