Aktualizováno is likely to sell its oil and gas licenses in Egypt, Pakistan and Libya, according to daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna citing its own findings. wants to concentrate on gas and oil extraction in Poland and Norway, the daily says, citing CEO Grazyna Piotrowska-Oliwa. The process of withdrawing from foreign operations may be protracted as the company is obliged to fulfil its obligations specified in the licenses, although this does not rule out searching for a buyer according to the CEO, who added that the details will be presented in the short-term strategy at the start of 2013.
Our view:
As always, the price would need to be right for shareholders to get excited about this deal. Nevertheless, from a strategic point of view, we would rather see the company continue its activities at these acreages as they may provide considerable exploration upside. However, PGNiG no longer appears to have the stomach for the heightened risks in these countries. As the assets are not incorporated in our valuation, any upside is positive for the valuation. Our back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests total proceeds at around US$ 125m-175m (or PLN 0.07-0.09 per share) for the assets.