png lng debt deal set to raise stakes

From todays news, read from this link to obtain full story, too much detail for my little brain, others may care to comment..

http://www.pngindustrynews.net/default.asp

PNG LNG debt deal set to raise the stakes

Alison Middleton, Bianca Bartucciotto
Friday, 8 November 2013
A CONVERTIBLE debt deal struck in 2008 during the financial crisis is set to trigger a contest for a slice in the $19 billion PNG LNG project.
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The deal was led by billionaire Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahnyan of Abu Dhabi.

The export terminal is being built by ExxonMobil, which now wants to buy back the debt before it becomes equity.
According to Bloomberg, Mansour is due to oversee a swap of that debt for a 14.7% stake in Oil Search, but the March conversion date has sparked speculation Exxon may also seek the holding.
The news site quoted Canaccord Genuity senior oil and gas analyst John Hedstrom as saying there could be great competition for the stake.
“There are a number of big companies genuinely interest in getting into Papua New Guinea,” he reportedly said.
The upcoming transfer has started talks between Abu Dhabi and Papua New Guinea.
As well as Exxon, Total has also been tipped as a potential acquirer for Oil Search, according to Bloomberg.
Both companies declined to comment on the state of the transaction, as did anyone from the Sheikh’s company or the PNG government.
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services analysts expect the government, through its public enterprise Independent Public Business Corp., to refinance a $A1.68 billion bond due to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), Abu Dhabi, in March.
S&P said the bond, equivalent to 8% of gross domestic product, was exchangeable into the government's stake in Oil Search if not refinanced prior to maturity, and would reduce the government's overall equity in the LNG project.

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Has not changed the share price today, it is sitting just where I want it for my covered calls, but 2014 should be a different story... I hope
Good luck to all holders, have rode this stock down and up for over 15 years now, will continue to buy on the dips and sell the calls, just happy to collect the rent.

Cheers
Mattocks