Lotos has hired former treasury minister Mr Andrzej Mikosz (presently a lawyer at K&L Gates) and former deputy treasury minister Mr Krzysztof Walenczak (presently director general at Societe Generale) as advisors in the bumpy cooperation with Talisman, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna writes, citing Lotos’ CEO Pawel Olechnowicz. Both men were responsible for forging a final solution in a year-long dispute between the Polish state and Dutch insurer Eureko.
Our view:
This indicates that Lotos is indeed considering all options regarding the Yme project. If Lotos acquired a larger producing asset (i.e. more than 5kbpd for a consideration of roughly US$ 200m) in Norway and was able to apply the majority of its deferred tax assets against it, it would be conceivable that Lotos may eventually choose to leave the Yme project and seek some compensation from either Talisman (the operator) and/or from SBM (the contractor). By applying the accumulated deferred tax assets against the field acquisition, it could be NPV positive. However, this would greatly reduce the already tarnished economics of Yme. Hence, if Lotos succeeded in completing a larger field acquisition, it may be better off quitting Yme.