Marcus Stanton, Non-Executive Chairman of Trapoil, commented, 'We look forward to welcoming Andrew, Ronald and the rest of the JOG team to the Company. We believe that the proposed acquisition of JOG, refined business strategy and injection of new capital, presents a welcome opportunity to enable the Company to resume a growth strategy going forward and benefit from JOG's experienced management team, in order to maximise shareholder returns in the medium and longer term. These proposals are therefore strongly recommended by the Board.'

Andrew Benitz, CEO of JOG, said,'Following the recent settlement agreement with its major creditors, there is considerable value potential within the Group with respect to its existing tax losses, its current asset portfolio - including the carry to first oil on Magnolia and the high working interest in the Romeo discovery - together with its remaining cash reserves.

'We believe that the enlarged group will be well placed to take advantage of the evolving consolidation opportunity in the North Sea, as may be demonstrated by the billions of dollars of private equity capital raised to pursue projects in the North Sea in recent months.'

Tags: Trapoil