SHARES in the Trinity Exploration & Production firm run by North Sea veteran Bruce Dingwall have fallen four per cent on news it scrapped a planned disposal after hitting a regulatory obstacle.
The Trinidad and Tobago focused firm agreed in August to sell interests in producing fields off the west of the state to Range Resources in a $4.55m (£3.4m) deal.
Trinity, which has a corporate development office in Edinburgh, said: “The regulators were unable to gain sufficient comfort on the transfer of ownership and operatorship, and therefore have not approved the assignment.
Trinity shrugged off the apparent setback, noting it had around $12m cash. The company will contact other parties that took part in the sale process in the hope of finding a buyer of the assets. These are operating profitably.
Trinity expects to start work soon on a drilling programme it reckons will help grow production to 3,000 barrels oil per day, from 2,754 in October.
It completed a refinancing in the first half which directors believe has put the firm on a stable footing. Trinity had incurred hefty losses amid the crude price plunge that started in 2014.
Mr Dingwall developed Trinity after running Aberdeen-based Venture Production, which Centrica bought for £1.3 billion in 2009.
Shares in Aim-listed Trinity closed down 0.62p at 16.12p. It has a market capitalisation of around £50m.
Range chief executive Yan Liu said it was disappointing the firm had not been able to complete the acquisition. He expects the firm to grow production and improve its financial performance in Trinidad during 2018.
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