Chinese private energy company Brightoil Petroleum has submitted a business resumption plan to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as the company progresses with its debt restructuring.
The plan includes the disposal of the international oil trading and bunkering business, and the company has signed a sale and purchase agreement regarding the disposal. The company said it would announce a feasible timetable for its fulfilment of the resumption conditions and details of the disposal as soon as possible.
Following the disposal, Brightoil expects the upstream business will be the primary focus of the company’s development in the future. The company currently operates an oilfield in Caofeidian, which completed a production volume of 11.62m barrels in the year of 2019.
In the meantime, the company been negotiating with various potential buyers for the sale of its Zhoushan oil storage and terminal facilities and has signed a non-binding agreement with one of the potential buyers. Brightoil expects to finalise the deal within three months.
Regarding the company’s winding-up petitions in Singapore, Brightoil said it has made good progress in reaching legally binding settlements with major trade creditors.
Brightoil was hit by financial crisis in 2019 and sold off its entire fleet of 15 vessels including five VLCCs, four aframax tankers and six bunkering vessels in order to increase liquidity.
In January, Brightoil Petroleum entered into a major debt restructuring deal with eight Chinese banks led by ICBC.
