Shell’s BG bid dealt blow | in-cyprus.com (Cyprus Weekly)

09/01/2016

Royal Dutch Shell’s bid to acquire BG Group was dealt a blow on Friday when a first major shareholder said it would vote against the $49 billion deal (34 billion pounds) due to a weak outlook for oil prices and risks related to BG’s assets in Brazil.

Standard Life Investment’s announcement came on the same day influential shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) endorsed the deal, saying the downturn in oil markets did not detract from its strategic benefits.

The first public sign of dissent from a key investor was unlikely to scupper Chief Executive Ben van Beurden’s drive to win the required shareholder support in a Jan. 27 vote.

Few investors or analysts have openly challenged the deal’s strategic benefits for Shell, which will become the world’s top liquefied natural gas trader and a major offshore oil producer.

But with crude oil prices languishing near 12-year lows of around $34 a barrel and forecasts of a slow recovery, investors have raised concerns about the viability of the cash-and-share deal that would increase Shell’s debt burden.

“We have concluded that the proposed terms of the acquisition of BG are value destructive for Shell shareholders,” David Cumming, head of equities at Standard Life Investments, said in a statement.

“This view is based on the downside risks to Shell’s oil price assumptions plus the tax and operational risks surrounding BG’s Brazilian asset base. Consequently we shall vote against the deal.”

A purchase of BG will increase Shell’s exposure to risks in Brazil which is suffering its worse recession in decades. It will also bring Shell into closer partnership with Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras.

The state owned oil company is in the middle of a giant price-fixing, bribery and political kick-back scandal. Its nearly $130 billion of debt is also the largest of any oil company in the world and it faces increasing difficulty paying for massive offshore investments, many of them with BG.

Standard Life is the 11th largest holder of Shell’s B shares with a 1.7 percent stake. Shell B shares make up the share component in the cash-and-share acquisition that is expected to be completed on Feb. 15.

Compelling Rationale

ISS, which advises around 5 percent of Shell’s medium and small shareholders, said they supported the deal “given the compelling strategic rationale, and the significant positive economics to be realised within a relatively short time frame.”

The current low oil price “may be of very little value in assessing the strategic opportunity of a transaction whose benefits will be realised over decades,” ISS said in a report.

Shell remained confident of winning the vote. “We continue to believe we have the broad base of shareholder support we need for the deal to complete,” a Shell spokesman said.

Guy Jubb, head of governance at Standard Life Investments, urged Shell to renegotiate the deal, announced last April.

On Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry told analysts Shell had conducted stress tests that showed it could withstand oil at $50 a barrel over the next two years, its lowest estimate to date as it seeks to secure shareholder support, sources told Reuters.

To weather such an environment, Shell plans to cut capital spending further below the planned $33 billion for 2016, delay share buybacks and extend scrip dividends, where investors are offered discounted shares instead of cash, Henry told analysts.

ISS said that the combination would allow Shell to replenish oil and gas reserves, lower production costs and ensure dividend cover “at what seems an opportunistic point” due to BG’s financial profile and the oil market’s cycle.

“There is credible evidence… that the price Shell is paying is reasonable even considering the decline in oil prices and oil stocks since the deal was announced.”

Royal Dutch Shell B shares were down 5.9 percent at 1757 GMT, compared with a 3.65 percent decline for the broader sector index. (Reuters)

SOURCE

Shell-BG Deal Pays Out $600 Million in Tax, Fees - NATURAL GAS EUROPE

January 08th, 2016

The UK finance ministry stands to make close to $300 million and banks, law firms and other advisers will receive as much again, if the Shell-BG takeover gets the go-ahead later this month.

There are less than three weeks to go until the Anglo-Dutch major’s general meeting on January 27th when shareholders vote on the takeover. BG’s own shareholders will vote a day later.

The deal is now worth about $53 billion, down from the initial $70 billion, thanks ultimately to low oil prices. Of that roughly 1% goes in payments, including the UK government’s 0.5% in Stamp Duty.

If it goes ahead, BG will pay $141.6-$158 million to its service providers while Shell will pay $446-467 million, according to the prospectus for the deal, published on December 22nd last year. But Shell will have to pay close to $1 billion in fees if it cannot sell the deal to its shareholders.

H Energean αύξησε στις 3.000 βαρέλια την παραγωγή στον Πρίνο | ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ

Την πρώτη από τις δεκαπέντε συνολικά γεωτρήσεις που έχουν σχεδιαστεί για την περίοδο 2015-2017 στον Κόλπο της Καβάλας ολοκλήρωσε με επιτυχία η Energean Oil & Gas, στο πλαίσιο του ύψους 200 εκατ. δολαρίων επενδυτικού προγράμματος που πραγματοποιεί με στόχο την αύξηση της παραγωγής πετρελαίου.

Από τη Δευτέρα 27 Δεκεμβρίου 2015, η γεώτρηση PA-35A στον Πρίνο έχει παραδοθεί στην παραγωγή, δίνοντας έως τώρα πάνω από 1.500 βαρέλια πετρελαίου ημερησίως, δηλαδή ποσότητα περίπου διπλάσια της αρχικώς εκτιμώμενης. Μαζί με τις υπόλοιπες ενεργές γεωτρήσεις, η μοναδική παραγωγή πετρελαίου στην Ελλάδα κινείται πλέον κοντά στις 3.000 βαρέλια ημερησίως, δηλαδή είναι 60% αυξημένη σε σχέση με ένα χρόνο πριν.

Σχολιάζοντας την εξέλιξη, ο πρόεδρος και διευθύνων σύμβουλος της Energean Oil & Gas, Μαθιός Ρήγας, δήλωσε ότι «μέσα σε ένα εντελώς αρνητικό διεθνές περιβάλλον, το οποίο χαρακτηρίζεται από την κατάρρευση της τιμής του πετρελαίου με απώλειες της τάξεως του 70% και τα χαμηλότερα επίπεδα από το 2004 και μετά, τις ματαιώσεις επενδυτικών σχεδίων αξίας εκατοντάδων δισ. δολαρίων καθώς και τις εκατοντάδες χιλιάδες απολύσεις στον κλάδο, μία ελληνική εταιρεία, παρά την πολιτική αβεβαιότητα και τις τελείως αρνητικές για το επιχειρείν συνθήκες που χαρακτήρισαν τη χώρα στη διάρκεια του 2015, κατάφερε να αντλήσει νέο πετρέλαιο από τον Πρίνο, το μοναδικό παραγωγό κοίτασμα της πατρίδας μας. Η αξιοποίηση των διαπιστωμένων αποθεμάτων πετρελαίου στον Κόλπο της Καβάλας, τα οποία εκτιμώνται σε 30 εκατ. βαρέλια, έχει ήδη ξεκινήσει και μαζί η νέα εποχή για τον Πρίνο.

Η κατάρρευση των τιμών του πετρελαίου λειτουργεί αρνητικά, μετριάζει την ικανοποίησή μας και απαγορεύει τους πανηγυρισμούς».

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Energean increases production with new Prinos well | World Oil

1/7/2016

ATHENS, Greece -- Energean Oil & Gas has completed the drilling of well PA-35A in Prinos, which was brought on-stream on Dec. 27. The well was drilled with the Energean Force, the newly acquired tender assisted drilling barge owned and operated by Energean.

PA-35A was the first of fifteen development wells planned by Energean to be drilled in Greece to develop the 30 MMbbl of 2P reserves in Prinos, Epsilon and Prinos North oil fields in the Gulf of Kavala. The completion of well PA-35A has added over 1,500 bopd to the production of Energean, which is well above the expected 2P scenario rates.

Energean’s exit production rate for 2015 reached 3,000 bopd in Prinos, a 60% increase from 2014. The drilling program continues with well PA-40, the second infill well in Prinos oil field.

SOURCE

Alex Brummer: Much still remains unclear about Israel’s ‘gift from god’ oil deal | Jewish News

Alex Brummer, City Editor of the Daily Mail

January 7, 2016
By Alex Brummer, City Editor of the Daily Mail

THE PROPOSED £47billion takeover of BG Group (the former exploration arm of British Gas) by Shell may appear to have little to do with Middle East politics. The main debate in the City of London has been about the fall in the oil price (it has tumbled 75 percent over the past 18 months) and whether the deal now makes sense for Shell and BG investors who vote on thedeal later this month.

But it is not just the Shell board and BG that have been anxious to get this deal done. On 17 December, amid political controversy at home, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel finally signed a deal with an American led oil partnership to develop the offshore Leviathan oilfield. Netanyahu has described the deal with the US explorer Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Group ‘as a gift from God’ and invoked national security concerns to bypass Israel’s competition rules.

Opponents, who have petitioned the High Court to reverse the contract, argue that the environmental and economic implications of the deal need to be looked at “in the face of the huge monopoly of Delek Group owner Yitzhak Tshuva and Noble Energy”.

The campaign against, led by Meretz, the secular, left-leaning party, does have some weight.

One of the great criticisms of the Israel economy,made by the global monitors such as the International Monetary Fund and OECD, is that Israel’s wealth is too concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy families. The gas deal will, if manything, underpin that wealth and control.

The way the Netanyahu administration has structured the transaction also has strategic implications. The Leviathan field is estimated to contain some 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas which, even at presently low world prices, has a value of $120bn. The partners in the deal, Noble and Delek, are already producing gas from the smaller Tamar field, which supplies up to half of Israel’s current electricity needs.

The latest transaction reportedly has the full support of the Obama administration in Washington.

In the recent past (notably over the Iran nuclear deal), such considerations have been brushed aside in Jerusalem.

The strategic value of the deal is in the detail.

Most of the output of the Leviathan will be exported via BG International’s gas liquefaction facility in Egypt over 15 years. It will therefore underpin economic relations between Jerusalem and Cairo and create jobs and income for the Idku refinery in Egypt that has been largely idle.

The value of this element of the deal has been estimated at $30billion. Jordan will also be a beneficiary of exports from the Leviathan field.

This is where it all becomes more complicated.

The Egyptian facility, which will handle most of the gas, is owned by BG, which has extensive natural gas facilities across the region. In Shell’s offer document for BG, distributed to shareholders, the new prospective owners make no mention of the Middle East among the countries and regions on which it intends to focus. BG, however, is committed to building a single pipeline to Egypt from Leviathan and the Aphrodite reservoir in Cyprus.

It recently bought Noble Energy out of its 50 percent stake in the Aphrodite discovery.

By pressing ahead with the Leviathan contracts, before the expected Shell takeover of BG, the Netanyahu government may be seeking to insulate itself from further delays caused by the uncertainty of the takeover. It also risks, however, that Shell may decide to dispose of its noncore interests, putting future arrangements for Leviathan in jeopardy again.

The political controversy in Israel is unlikely to go away. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog has described the use of national security provisions to push ahead with the contracts as “a cynical ploy that takes advantage of our security situation”.

The sharp decline in the oil and natural gas prices is having a dramatic effect across the whole Middle East and not just Israel. Among the OPEC oil producers, it has pitted Iran – which wants to pump more oil now that sanctions are being eased – against Saudi Arabia, which would like to restrict production this year, in the hope of putting a floor under the oil price.

If the oil price were to continue to fall to $20-a-barrel, as Goldman Sachs has forecast, then the main Gulf oil producing states would be $494bn poorer and would be required to sell extensive assets to meet budgetary shortfalls.

Israel’s natural gas may be less valuable at present than it once hoped. But it does provide the Jewish state with a degree of energy security that once seemed impossible, at a time when the oil rich states around it are struggling.

Nevertheless, there will still be some anxious days ahead as the proposed Shell-BG deal is settled and the future development of the Leviathan discovery could again be rendered uncertain.

SOURCE

Gideon Tadmor steps down from Delek Group roles - GLOBES

07/01/2016, 22:12, Globes correspondent
Tadmor, who is chairman of Delek Drilling and CEO of Avner, is leaving to pursue independent business ventures.

Delek Drilling chairman and Avner CEO Gideon Tadmor is stepping down. Tadmor notified the board of directors that he intends to leave for independent business ventures as of February 1, 2016. Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu will be appointed CEO of Avner as well, and Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) CEO Asi Bartfeld, will be appointed as chairman of Delek Drilling. The new appointments in the gas partnerships are joined by the appointment of Yaniv Friedman as the Deputy CEO of Avner and Delek Drilling, as recently reported.

Unknown assailants bomb gas pipeline in Egypt's North Sinai | Ahram Online

Thursday 7 Jan 2016

Unknown militants bombed a main natural gas pipeline in Egypt's Sinai Penninsula on Thursday, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

According to security sources, the blast took place in the Al-Midan area, west of the coastal city of Al-Arish. The assailants placed explosive devices under the pipeline and detonated them remotely.

The explosion lead to an interruption in natural gas supplying houses in the area.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Gas pipelines in Sinai have been bombed dozens of times since the revolution in 2011, with the most recent attack in May 2015.

SOURCE

Israeli firms in talks to buy natural gas from Leviathan | Reuters

Thu Jan 7, 2016, JERUSALEM

Jan 7 The partners in Israel's offshore Leviathan natural gas site said on Thursday they were in talks to supply gas to a number of Israeli companies.

In a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, units of Delek Group said the firms were private electricity producers and industrial companies but did not offer further details.

Last month, after years of political infighting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a deal giving long-awaited approval for the development of Leviathan off Israel's Mediterranean coast.

Leviathan, with estimated reserves of 622 billion cubic meters, will cost at least $6 billion to develop. It is meant to begin production in 2018-2020, although that timetable looks ambitious, and supply billions of dollars' worth of gas to Egypt and Jordan, and possibly Turkey and Europe.

Development of Leviathan is being led by Texas-based Noble Energy and Delek through its units Delek Drilling and Avner Oil and Gas.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer)


SOURCE

Noble Energy January 6, 2016 Press Release

January 6, 2016

NOBLE ENERGY ENHANCES FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY WITH DEBT REFINANCING

New term loan to replace certain outstanding notes through cash tender offers

Houston, Jan. 06, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Noble Energy, Inc. ("Noble Energy" or "the Company") (NYSE: NBL) today announced a series of transactions, consisting of a new term loan and cash tender offers for certain outstanding notes, which collectively enhance its financial flexibility.

Noble Energy has entered into a new three-year term loan agreement with seven lending institutions for a principal amount of up to $1.4 billion.  Provisions of the term loan agreement, including pricing and covenants, are consistent with those contained in the Company's existing $4.0 billionrevolving credit facility. Borrowings under the term loan agreement may be pre-paid in full or in part at any time prior to its maturity without premium. 

In connection with the foregoing term loan commitments, Noble Energy has simultaneously launched cash tender offers (the "Tender Offers") for the following series of its notes (collectively the "Notes"): 5.875% Senior Notes due 2024, 5.875% Senior Notes due 2022 and 5.625% Senior Notes due 2021, all of which were originally assumed as part of the Rosetta Resources Inc. merger. The maximum aggregate purchase price (exclusive of accrued interest) of Notes to be purchased will be limited to approximately $1.4 billion, as further described below.  The borrowings under the term loan facility will be used solely to fund the Tender Offers.

Kenneth M. Fisher, the Company's Executive Vice President and CFO, commented, "Today's announcement represents a significant additional synergy from the Rosetta merger. These transactions create significant value for Noble Energy, improving profitability through annual interest savings of up to$50 million and substantially enhancing our deleveraging flexibility. We ended 2015 with $5 billion in liquidity and are committed to continuing a disciplined capital program."

Detailed Description of the Cash Tender Offers

Noble Energy today commenced Tender Offers to purchase up to an aggregate principal amount of the Notes that will not result in an "Aggregate Purchase Price" exceeding $1.39 billion (subject to increase by Noble Energy, the "Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount").  The Aggregate Purchase Price refers to the aggregate amount that holders are entitled to receive, excluding Accrued Interest (as defined below), for notes that are validly tendered and accepted for purchase.

The terms and conditions of the Tender Offers are described in an Offer to Purchase, dated January 6, 2016 (the "Offer to Purchase"), and the related Letter of Transmittal.  Noble Energy reserves the right, but is under no obligation, to increase the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount at any time, subject to applicable law.  If the Company increases the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount, it does not expect to extend the Withdrawal Deadline, subject to applicable law.  The amounts of each series of Notes to be purchased may be prorated as set forth in the Offer to Purchase.  The order of priority for the purchase of the Notes (the "Acceptance Priority Levels") is shown in the chart below, with 1 being the highest Acceptance Priority Level and 3 being the lowest Acceptance Priority Level.

						Dollars per $1,000 Principal Amount of Notes
Title of Notes	CUSIP Number	Aggregate Principal Amount Outstanding			Acceptance Priority Level	Tender Offer Consideration(1)			Early Tender Premium(1)			Total Consideration (1)(2)
5.875% Senior Notes due 2024	655044 AM7	$	498,786,000		1	$	970		$	30		$	1,000
5.875% Senior Notes due 2022	655044 AL9	$	597,436,000		2	$	980		$	30		$	1,010
5.625% Senior Notes due 2021	655044 AK1	$	692,964,000		3	$	985		$	30		$	1,015

_{(1) Per $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for purchase by the Company. Does not include accrued interest, which will be paid on Notes accepted for purchase by the Company.}

_{(2) Includes the Early Tender Premium for Notes validly tendered prior to the Early Tender Date (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for purchase by the Company.}

The Tender Offers will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on February 3, 2016, unless extended or earlier terminated by Noble Energy (the "Expiration Date").  No tenders submitted after the Expiration Date will be valid.  Subject to the terms and conditions of the Tender Offers, the consideration for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offers will be the tender offer consideration for such series of Notes set forth in the table above (with respect to each series of Notes, the "Tender Offer Consideration").  Holders of Notes that are validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 20, 2016(such date and time, as it may be extended, the "Early Tender Date") and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offers will receive the applicable Tender Offer Consideration for such series, plus the early tender premium for such series of Notes set forth in the table above (with respect to each series of Notes, the "Early Tender Premium" and, together with the applicable Tender Offer Consideration, the "Total Consideration").  Holders of Notes tendering their Notes after the Early Tender Date will not be eligible to receive the Early Tender Premium.

All Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offers will receive the applicable consideration set forth in the table above, plus accrued and unpaid interest on such Notes from the last interest payment date with respect to those Notes to, but not including, the applicable Settlement Date (as defined below) ("Accrued Interest").

Tendered Notes may be withdrawn from the Tender Offers at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 20, 2016, unless extended by Noble Energy (such date and time, as it may be extended, the "Withdrawal Deadline").  Holders of Notes who tender their Notes after the Withdrawal Deadline, but prior to the Expiration Date, may not withdraw their tendered Notes.

Noble Energy reserves the right, but is under no obligation, at any point following the Early Tender Date and before the Expiration Date, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to the Tender Offers, to accept for purchase any Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Tender Date (the settlement date of such purchase being the "Early Settlement Date"), subject to the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount, the Acceptance Priority Levels and proration.  The Early Settlement Date will be determined at Noble Energy's option and is currently expected to occur onJanuary 21, 2016, subject to all conditions to the Tender Offers having been satisfied or waived by Noble Energy.  On such Early Settlement Date, the Company will accept Notes validly tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Date, subject to the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount, the Acceptance Priority Levels and proration.  Noble Energy will purchase any remaining Notes that have been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Expiration Date and that Noble Energy chooses to accept for purchase, subject to all conditions to the Tender Offers having been either satisfied or waived by Noble Energy, promptly following the Expiration Date (the settlement date of such purchase being the "Final Settlement Date," the Final Settlement Date and the Early Settlement Date each being a "Settlement Date").  The Final Settlement Date is expected to occur on February 4, 2016, the first business day following the Expiration Date.

Subject to the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount and proration, Noble Energy will accept Notes for purchase as follows: (1) with respect to Notes tendered at or before the Early Tender Date, all Notes tendered at or before the Early Tender Date having a higher Acceptance Priority Level will be accepted before any Notes tendered at or before the Early Tender Date having a lower Acceptance Priority Level are accepted, and (2) with respect to Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date, all Notes validly tendered after the Early Tender Date having a higher Acceptance Priority Level will be accepted before any Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date having a lower Acceptance Priority Level are accepted.  For the avoidance of doubt, if the Tender Offers are not fully subscribed as of the Early Tender Date, Notes tendered at or before the Early Tender Date will be accepted for purchase in priority to Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date, even if Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date have a higher Acceptance Priority Level than Notes tendered prior to the Early Tender Date.

Acceptance for tenders of any Notes may be subject to proration if the aggregate principal amount for any series of Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn would result in an Aggregate Purchase Price that exceeds the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount.  Furthermore, if the Tender Offers are fully subscribed as of the Early Tender Date, holders who validly tender Notes after the Early Tender Date will not have any of their Notes accepted for purchase.

Given that the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount is greater than the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the 5.875% Senior Notes due 2024 and the 5.875% Senior Notes due 2022, we will accept for purchase any and all validly tendered Notes of such two series at or prior to the Early Tender Date.  If we receive additional valid tenders of the 5.875% Senior Notes due 2024 and the 5.875% Senior Notes due 2022 after the Early Tender Date, we will only accept such tenders subject to the conditions and upon the terms described herein, including but not limited to the Acceptance Priority Levels, the Aggregate Maximum Tender Amount and proration.

The consummation of the Tender Offers is not conditioned upon any minimum amount of Notes being tendered.  However, the Tender Offers are subject to, and conditioned upon, the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions described in the Offer to Purchase including, among others, Noble Energy having received net proceeds through the new term loan sufficient to purchase all Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for purchase by the Company in the Tender Offers and to pay all fees and expenses in connection with the Tender Offers.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. ("Citigroup") and Mizuho Securities USA Inc. ("Mizuho Securities") are the dealer managers in the Tender Offers.  Global Bondholder Services Corporation has been retained to serve as both the depositary and the information agent for the Tender Offers.  Persons with questions regarding the Tender Offers should contact Citigroup at (toll-free) (800) 558-3745 or (collect) (212) 723-6106 or Mizuho Securities at (toll-free) (866) 271-7403 or (collect) (212) 205-7736.  Requests for copies of the Offer to Purchase, the related Letter of Transmittal and other related materials should be directed to Global Bondholder Services Corporation at (toll-free) (866) 794-2200 or (collect) (212) 430-3774.

None of Noble Energy, its board of directors, the dealer managers, the depositary and the information agent, the trustee with respect to the Notes or any of Noble Energy's or their respective affiliates, makes any recommendation as to whether holders of the Notes should tender any Notes in response to the Tender Offers.  The Tender Offers are made only by the Offer to Purchase and related Letter of Transmittal.  The Tender Offers are not being made to holders of Notes in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction.  In any jurisdiction in which the Tender Offers are required to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the Tender Offers will be deemed to be made on behalf of Noble Energy by the dealer manager, or one or more registered brokers or dealers that are licensed under the laws of such jurisdiction.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of federal securities laws.  Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "will," "should," "may," and similar expressions may be used to identify forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact and reflect Noble Energy's current views about future events.  They include projected cash flow and liquidity, future results of operations, business strategy and other plans and objectives for future operations.  No assurances can be given that the forward-looking statements contained in this news release will occur as projected and actual results may differ materially from those projected.  Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and assumptions that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.  These risks include, without limitation, the effects of global, national and regional economic and market conditions, changes in the financial markets and interest rates, the volatility in commodity prices for crude oil and natural gas, the presence or recoverability of estimated reserves, the ability to replace reserves, environmental risks, drilling and operating risks, exploration and development risks, competition, government regulation or other actions, the ability of management to execute its plans to meet its goals and other risks inherent in Noble Energy's business that are discussed in its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and in other reports on file with theSecurities and Exchange Commission . These reports are also available from Noble Energy's offices or website, http://www.nobleenergyinc.com.  Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made.  Noble Energy does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances, management's estimates, or opinions change.

Investor Contacts
Brad Whitmarsh
(281) 943-1670
brad.whitmarsh@nblenergy.com

Megan Repine
(832) 639-7380
megan.repine@nblenergy.com

Media Contacts
Reba Reid
(713) 412-8441
media@nblenergy.com

Paula Beasley
(281) 876-6133
media@nblenergy.com

Source: Noble Energy Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media

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