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Leed Petroleum PLC is a public limited company registered on December 20 2006 in England and Wales under company number 06034226. The Company’s principal business is the exploration, development and production of oil and gas. Leed’s focus is the Gulf of Mexico region of the US.
The Company operates its business through its subsidiaries, Leed Petroleum Inc. and Leed Petroleum LLC. Through Leed Petroleum LLC, the Group currently has working interests in 17 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Gulf of Mexico leases as well as leases in one onshore field located in South Louisiana, USA.
Leed Petroleum floated on London’s AIM market in August 2007, at a price of 47p. Despite the turbulent market conditions brought by the credit crunch at the time, Leed was one of the few companies that successfully entered the market. It raised the targeted US$90 million (£45.2 million) in net proceeds, giving the company a market capitalisation of US$230 million (£115 million) at the time after the exercise of certain options and warrants.
Leed has interests in 9 operated Outer Continental Shelf of Mexico leases and non-operated interests in 6 other OCS Gulf of Mexico offshore leases and some onshore leases onshore Louisiana. The offshore leases are shallow water/shelf (<350 feet/100 metres in depth). They are low cost and generally low risk since this is a mature field, with overlooked, under exploited and undeveloped assets. Some of these were awarded by the Mineral Management Services (MMS) which is a US Government Federal agency. The MMS, like the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the UK, has the equivalent of licensing rounds each year.
Working interests generally range from 25 to 100 per cent and locations include the South Marsh Island area, the Grand Isle area, the Ship Shoal area, the Main Pass area, the East Cameron area, Eugene Island and in a 6.3 km2 section of the onshore Sorrento Field.
A company like Leed might be called a “reserves detective”. This is a group which, buys up pockets and small pools of oil and gas which are no longer deemed “material” to the big companies like BP and Shell which own them. The idea is that by fitting a jigsaw of pools together the company can squeeze more out of underexploited fields and enhance field life through the use of new technology.
Howard Wilson explains that Leed does more than just acquire existing production. It only buys production where additional drilling is warranted, and by participating in MMS lease sales, Leed acquires the right to drill on concessions that are not producing. Wilson said: “We are a growth company and have a proven track record of being able to increase value from assets, through increasing existing production and drilling new pools in existing fields. One of the advantages of the Lease Purchase system under the MMS is that, after the 5 year primary term, assets are returned to the MMS 6 months after production ceases, ensuring efficient use of the acreage.” One highly prospective lease was dropped by a major oil and gas company because they no longer considered it, given their cost structure, “material” to their portfolio.
| Non Executive Chairman | Robert Adair |
| President and Chief Executive | Howard Wilson |
| Chief Operating Officer | James Slatten |
| Senior non-executive Director | Robert Alcock |
| Non-executive Director | Ian Shaun Gibbs |
| Non-executive Director | Peter Denis Hirsch |
| Non-executive Director | Stephen Fleming |
Company AddressSuite 7100, 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Rd
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Additional Address/Key ContactRegistered Office 110 Cannon St. London EC4N 6AR UK |
CapitalNumber of ordinary shares currently in issue;276,020,767 |
Nominated BrokersMatrix Corporate Capital LLP | Nominated AdvisorsMatrix Corporate Capital LLP |
| Shareholder | Percentage of issued share capital |
| I B Daiwa | 37.90% |
| Allianz Global Investors Global Equity Business Unit | 8.04% |
| AXA Framlington UK Select Ops | 5.80% |
| F&C Management Limited | 5.241% |
| Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Ltd | 5.23% |
| BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited | 4.99% |
| Artemis Investment Management Ltd, of which Artemis UK Smaller Companies owns 3.75% | 4.18% |