Westport firm seeks return of Pakistani oil and gas field

A Westport-based oil and gas exploration firm is in the midst of an international arbitration case with millions of dollars hanging in the balance.

The American Energy Group in Westport is preparing for its June 16 final arbitration hearing before an International Chamber of Commerce tribunal in London in an effort to regain control of a subsidiary that it sold to a Turkish company in 2003 through a stock purchase agreement.

AEGG claims that the Turkish company, Hydro-Tur, misrepresented itself and committed fraud when it acquired Hycarbex-American Energy from AEGG in 2003.

As part of the sale agreement, AEGG each month was promised an 18 percent share of the gross amount of each monthly gas sale from the Yasin concession block in Pakistan, but Pierce Onthank, president and CEO of AEGG, said Thursday that payments have stopped.

"They owe us $3 million. That's why we went to court," he said, adding that Hydro-Tur and its successor, Singapore-based Hycarbex-Asia, and Hycarbex-American are defendants.

A Wilton resident, Onthank said he expects the ICC to render a decision by early September. The process started in March of 2012.

If AEGG wins the arbitration case, it will be forwarded to the Pakistani courts for enforcement. Pakistan is a signatory of the 1940 international arbitration agreement with the ICC.

AEGG has been doing business in Pakistan since 1996.

Should the Pakistani courts agree with AEGG, it would regain a business that controls a parcel the size of three-quarters of Rhode Island.

"It's producing over 10 million cubic feet of gas per day," Onthank said, adding that the Yasin block has a proven reserve of 200 billion cubic feet of gas and the potential for oil drilling, as well. "If we get the whole company back, we hit a home run."

But because oil and gas fields deplete, the value might not be as high as AEGG believes, according to Tom Biracree, senior financial editor at IHS Herold in Norwalk.

"It depends on the geology," he said.

When making deals in foreign countries, particularly in South Asia, situations like the one encountered by AEGG often occur, Biracree said, commenting that parties in those countries often do not live up to agreements.

"It shows the difficulty of enforcing judgments in Pakistan from Westport, Conn.," he said.

AEGG sells all the oil and gas it retrieves in the country to Pakistan.

"They need it, and they've never reneged," Onthank said. "We're the only American company doing exploration in Pakistan. I'm very excited to be working in Pakistan. It's a diamond in the rough. When we tell people we're drilling in Pakistan they tell me `you're out of your mind'. But when you're a small company you have to think out of the box."

AEGG is traded over the counter with the ticker symbol "AEGG".




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Apr-21-15     AEGG Wins Arbitration and Obtains Significant Award From ICC Tribunal
Mar-25-15     AEGG Announces a Sale of Shares and a Loan Transaction
Jul-13-14     Westport firm seeks return of Pakistani oil and gas field
Jun-13-14     AEGG Announces Loan Transaction
Jun-04-14     AEGG Announces Joint Instruction Letter Delivered to Sui Southern Gas Co. Limited for Direct Payment of Monthly Production Funds
Jun-04-14     AEGG Announces Sale Of Common Shares
Feb-12-14     AEGG Announces Loan Transaction
Feb-12-14     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Dec-05-13     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Oct-17-13     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Sep-26-13     AEGG Wins Interim Hearing - Arbitration Tribunal of ICC Grants all Requests
Sep-12-13     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Jul-25-13     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Jul-02-13     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Apr-01-13     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Jan-29-13     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Dec-26-12     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Oct-24-12     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Mar-30-12     AEGG Prevails in Pakistan Court Against Hycarbex
Feb-09-12     AEGG Announces Initiation of Legal Proceedings to Enforce Yasin Production Payments
Nov-22-11     AEGG Withholding of Royalty by HYCARBEX-AMERICAN ENERGY, INC.
Aug-22-11     AEGG Announces Resumption of continuous Production From Haseeb Gas Field
Aug-16-11     Updated Presentation Aug-16-2011
Aug-02-11     AEGG to Present at ENERCOMā€™S THE OIL AND GAS CONFERENCEĀ® 16 of AugustT 16, 2011
Jun-10-11     Engagement of Macquarie Capital (Europe) Ltd. to Locate Strategic Partner for Yasin Block Concession
Jun-10-11     Dr. Iftikhar Zahid Resigns from the Board of Directors
May-11-11     AEGG Announces Engagement Of New Audit Firm
Apr-12-11     AEGG announces Retirement Of Karl Welser From Board Of Directors And Appointment Of John S. Gebhardt
Mar-10-11     AEGG Announces Sale of Common Shares
Sep-10-10     AEGG Announces Connection to Pipe Line and Commencement of Gas Sales for Haseeb No. 1 Well
Aug-24-10     Updated Presentation Aug-24-2010
Feb-03-10     EnerCom, Inc. Presents The Oil & Services Conference in San Francisco
Dec-14-09     Signing Ceremony for Extended Well Test Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement
Nov-12-09     Completion of Surface Facility and Updated Schedule for Pipeline Connection
Oct-29-09     Contract for Acquisition of Working Interests in Sanjawi and Zamzama North Blocks
Sep-29-09     Updated Schedule for Surface Facility & Pipeline Connection
May-05-09     Execution of Gas Sales Agreement for Haseeb #1 Well
Feb-17-09     WallStreet Research Report
Feb-04-09     Venture Research Report
Jan-30-09     Results of Haseeb Gas Field Independent Reserve Study
Jan-30-09     AEGG Announces Allocation of Gas For Haseeb #1 Well
Nov-21-08     AEGG Announces Spudding of Yasin Exploratory Well #1
Nov-13-08     AEGG Announces Approval of Contract for Surface Facility and Placement of Rig for New Exploratory Well
Jul-02-08     AEGG Announces Updated Activities Schedule For Calendar 2008
May-15-07     RedChip Visibility Initiates Research On American Energy Group, Ltd.
  
  

 
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