Eland sells 115,722 barrels of crude oil in 2014

THE Aberdeen-based company, Eland, an oil & gas production, development and exploration company operating in West Africa with a principal focus on Nigeria, has announced that Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (“Elcrest”), Eland’s joint venture company, has completed the loading and sale of a further 31,500 bbls gross of crude for an average price of $94.93 per barrel. 

  The company disclosed in a statement that the oil was extracted from Eland’s only commercially producing field, the OML 40 field in the Niger Delta, where it began production earlier this year.

  According to Eland, it is the final loading and sale by Nigerian-focused Eland of the year, and means it has sold a total of 115,722 barrels gross of crude oil this year, for an average price of $103.77.

Chief executive George Maxwell said: “Eland has had a successful end to 2014, culminating in our most recent operational updates.

“The company is moving from strength to strength and is well prepared and financed for our 2015 programme.”

The sale by Eland comes shortly after the company secured a $22 milion (£14 million) loan facility from Standard Chartered.

Eland said the funding signaled a vote of confidence in its key OML 40 licence at a time when the price of oil is plummeting. This week it fell below $60 a barrel.

The facility will be used by the company to fund work on the Nigerian acreage.

AIM-listed Eland has mandated Standard Chartered Bank to coordinate work on securing a $75m lending facility it wants to have in place by the year end.