ShaMaran Acquires Additional 15-percent Stake in Atrush

Canadian oil explorer ShaMaran Petroleum (TSXV:SNM) has signed a deal with Marathon Oil a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil Corporation, to acquire an additional 15 percent working interest in the Atrush Block production sharing contract in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

As quoted from the press release:

The underlying agreements governing the development and operation of the Atrush block require that both the Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Governmental Authority as well as TAQA Atrush BV, the other owner of a participating interest in, and the operator of, the Atrush block, consent to the assignment of the participating interest from MOKDV to GEP. At the time, the MNR gave assurance of providing its consent to the assignment, however, TAQA unreasonably refused to provide its consent to the Acquisition.

As a result of TAQA’s unreasonable refusal to provide consent, Marathon re-issued an offer to acquire MOKDV, a corporate transaction which does not require TAQA consent, with the result being that the Company is now engaged in a new bidding process for the Marathon interest in the Atrush block. There is no assurance that any offer by the Company or GEP, if submitted, will result in the acquisition of the increased interest in the Atrush block.

In the meantime, the company is reviewing all available options.

Click here to read the full announcement