GAS Gasol

TIDMGAS

RNS Number : 9751T

Gasol plc

20 December 2012

DATE: 20 December, 2012

Gasol plc

("Gasol" or "the Company")

(AIM: GAS)

Strategic Alliance with Socar Trading S.A. to provide gas to Benin, Togo and Ghana

Gasol plc, the West African energy development company, is pleased to announce the signing of a strategic alliance agreement with Socar Trading S.A. ("STSA") in relation to its proposed LNG Import Project in Benin (the "Project"). STSA is the international marketing and development arm of SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, which is one of the largest companies in the world.

Key Points:

   --     Alliance represents a major step towards bringing gas to constrained Benin, Togo and Ghana 
   --     Access to LNG, a storage and regasification vessel and STSA's development expertise 
   --     Opportunity to supply LNG to a significant growth market 
   --     New implemented strategy takes effect 

Under the terms of the strategic alliance, STSA will supply all Liquefied Natural Gas ("LNG") required for the Project and assist Gasol with the provision of a floating gas storage and regasification vessel in the harbour at Cotonou, Benin. The Project involves the regasification of LNG and the supply of that gas to power and industrial customers in Benin, Togo and Ghana. The strategic alliance is a key development for Gasol, as it ensures the supply of LNG and the storage and regasification vessel on competitive terms, important components in putting the Project together. It also allows STSA to leverage its LNG capability to support Gasol's project and to build its presence in West Africa.

Alan Buxton, Chief Operating Officer at Gasol, said: "Our alliance with STSA represents a major step towards our goal of bringing gas to Benin, Togo and Ghana, which remain significantly gas constrained in their power plants and industries. In line with the Board's new strategy, the strategic alliance with STSA provides Gasol with access to LNG and a storage and regasification vessel, but just as importantly, STSA's experience in the development of such projects. STSA's expertise and experience will, I am sure, provide significant assurance to the lenders to our LNG Import Project."

Hayal Ahmadzada, Head of Oil Trading at STSA, said: "We are delighted to be working with Gasol to help them unlock the value of their Benin LNG Import Project. Creating this strategic alliance allows STSA the opportunity to supply LNG to a market where we see significant growth over the short to medium term and positions us well in the region to capitalize on that growth."

For further information, please contact:

 
 Gasol plc 
  Alan Buxton, Chief Operating 
  Officer                         +44 (0) 20 7290 
  www.gasolplc.com                 3300 
 Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited 
  Dominic Morley (Corporate 
  Finance)                        +44 (0) 20 7886 
  Callum Stewart (Corporate        2500 
  Finance) 
  Adam Pollock (Corporate 
  Broking) 
 
  Yellow Jersey PR Limited         +44 (0) 7768 537 
  Dominic Barretto                 739 
 

Notes to Editors:

About Gasol plc

Gasol plc's strategy is to provide African gas for the next generation. Power stations in West Africa currently operate predominantly on liquid fuels such as diesel, light crude and jet fuel, but many of these plants are also capable of using gas. Gasol will initially supply these customers with gas from regasified Liquefied Natural Gas ("LNG"), which can provide significant cost savings in the order of 20 to 30 per cent. This involves the delivery of LNG to a leased Floating Storage and Regasification Vessel, which will be berthed in Cotonou harbour, Benin and will supply the regasified LNG into the West African Gas Pipeline. The West African Gas Pipeline is a 678km gas pipeline involving an investment of over US$1 billion, built to transport gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana which has been operational since March 2011, but today operates at significantly less than full capacity . Once there is sufficient regional demand for gas, Gasol aims to develop captive gas reserves in offshore Nigeria and will supply this gas through the West African Gas Pipeline. This pipeline gas will be cheaper and therefore displace the LNG derived gas, resulting in further savings for customers.

Gasol's shares have been listed on AIM's London Stock Exchange since 2005 with the ticker code "GAS". Further information on the Company is available at www.gasolplc.com.

About Socar Trading S.A.

Headquartered in Geneva, SOCAR Trading is the international marketing and development arm of SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic. The company markets the bulk of SOCAR crude oil export volumes from Ceyhan, trades significant volumes of third party crude and oil products and assists its parent company with international investments in logistics and downstream.

Since it shipped its first cargo in April 2008, SOCAR Trading has successfully optimised and diversified the SOCAR barrel among end-users across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Crucially, SOCAR Trading has also leveraged its system barrel successfully to access significant third-party crude and product volumes, processing operations and investments in oil logistics. Third party business makes up more than one third of SOCAR Trading's activities.

Its parent, SOCAR is one of the largest companies in the world and is involved in oil and gas exploration, production, processing and transportation, as well as the marketing of petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets. SOCAR operates offshore and onshore production units, two oil refineries, a gas processing plant, a special oil fleet, a deep water platform fabrication yard and 24 subdivisions running as corporate entities under SOCAR leadership. SOCAR has representative offices in Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Germany and Ukraine, as well as trading companies in Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, Nigeria and other countries. In the last twelve months ended 30 June 2011, SOCAR generated around US$7.8 billion of revenues, US$2.9 billion of EBITDA and US$1.5 billion of net income.

More information is available at new.socar.az/socar/en/home.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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