Caspian Sunrise, a Kazakhstan-focused oil and gas exploration and production company, is selling 50% stake in its 2012-built shallow-water drilling barge Caspian Explorer.
.The company has conditionally agreed to sell shares in the UAE-registered Prosperity Petroleum, the holding company of the Kazakh-registered KC Caspian Explorer, which in turn owns the drilling vessel to Seychelles-registered Stepping Stone Investments for $22.5m.
The Caspian Explorer is a drilling vessel designed specifically for use in the shallow northern Caspian Sea where traditional deepwater rigs cannot be used. Caspian Sunrise acquired the unit for around $3.7m in 2020. The unit has been booked for its first campaign by Istay Operating Company, a Kazakh-registered partnership between Eni and Kazakhstan’s state-run KazMunaiGas, set to begin in the summer of 2024.
Caspian Sunrise said the sale is conditional among other things upon payment being received band the re-registration of the sale shares in the UAE. The disposal is expected to result in a gross accounting profit of about $20m.
