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Hurricane Energy - First thoughts: Spirit Energy farm-in

Spirit Energy has farmed-in to 50% of Hurricane’s Lincoln and Warwick licences covering the Greater Warwick Area (GWA). The farm-in is intended to accelerate the de-risking and monetisation of GWA, adding a new leg to the Hurricane business model that will run in parallel with the development of the Greater Lancaster Area (GLA). Under the transaction, Hurricane will retain a 50% working interest in GWA licences in return for a net carry of $137.2m through a two-phase initial work programme and $150–250m contingent carry on net GWA full field development (FFD) expense. Based on company-estimated GWA gross 2P reserves of 500mmbbls expected to be unlocked by the FFD, the combined carry value is $1.2/boe to $1.6/boe. The transaction structure differs materially from our assumed 60% working interest dilution through farm-out for Lincoln (250mmbbl development case) and a post-carry NPV/bbl of $5.0/boe ($2.5/boe risked) in our last published valuation of 81p/share. We expect to revise our risked Lincoln valuation ($241m) to reflect the details of the transaction, which include accelerated production via tie-back to Lancaster, not currently reflected in our valuation. We believe today’s deal materially accelerates the de-risking of Hurricane’s Rona Ridge asset base both in terms of GWA resource but also the ability to focus Lancaster EPS cash-flows on fast-track appraisal of the GLA resource base.