Prospex Energy plc / Index: AIM / Epic: PXEN / Sector: Oil and Gas
21 August 2025
Prospex Energy plc
("Prospex" or the "Company")
Prospex and Po Valley sign Gas Sales Agreement with Hera Group
Prospex Energy plc (AIM: PXEN), the AIM quoted investing company focused on European gas and power projects, is pleased to announce that Po Valley Operations Pty Limited (PVO), a wholly owned subsidiary of Po Valley Energy Limited (ASX: PVE) and operator of the Selva Malvezzi production concession, together with its JV partners, PXOG Marshall Limited (PXOG) and UOG Italia Srl (UOG), have signed a new gas sales agreement (GSA) with Hera Trading S.r.l. (Hera Group).
PVO is the operator of the Selva Malvezzi production concession under a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) and holds a 63% interest with Prospex's subsidiaries holding 17% through PXOG Marshall Limited (PXOG) and 20% through UOG Italia Srl (UOG).
Highlights
· Selva Malvezzi Joint Venture signs a new GSA with Hera Trading to supply gas from its Podere Maiar-1d well facility in Italy
· 12-month contract commencing 1 October 2025 to supply approximately 27.963 million standard cubic metres of gas, with the option to extend
· Gas supply price will be linked to the Italian Gas Index (IG INDEX GME)
· Podere Maiar-1d has delivered ≈54.4 million standard cubic metres of gas from the C2 level in the well to date since first gas on 4 July 2023
Hera Trading, a group entity headed by Hera S.p.A, with operational headquarters in the Bologna province (Emilia Romagna region), offers the Joint Venture the opportunity to collaborate with a local business and strengthen engagement with the local community. Hera is a major Italian multi-utility company listed on the FTSE MIB, Borsa Italiana's main Index, which includes the 40 largest stocks by capitalisation, liquidity and trading volume.
The GSA with Hera will commence on 1 October 2025 for gas production from the Podere Maiar facility (PM-1d well) in the Selva Malvezzi production concession, replacing the current GSA with BP Gas Marketing which expires on 1 October 2025. The GSA was agreed following a competitive tender process, with local player Hera Trading emerging as the successful bidder. The operator Po Valley expects the outcome to be strongly supported by local stakeholders.
The Selva Malvezzi Joint Venture has completed nearly 2½ successful years with partner BP Gas Marketing from first gas flow in July 2023, to date delivering 54.4 million standard cubic metres of gas from PM-1d. The agreement with BP Gas Marketing Ltd has been a valued and effective partnership. BP's professionalism and support have contributed to the Joint Venture's success. Po Valley and Prospex thank BP Gas Marketing for its support and collaboration as the agreement concludes on 1 October 2025.
Mark Routh, Prospex's CEO, commented:
"We are pleased that Po Valley has secured a new gas sales agreement with Hera Group, a respected energy company with operational headquarters in the Bologna area. This is a significant engagement for both Po Valley and Prospex, strengthening the Joint Venture's relationship with the region and demonstrating its commitment to supply locally sourced energy to the community. The agreement with Hera will replace the current GSA with BP Gas Marketing Ltd, which expires on 1 October 2025.
"The publicly quoted Italian Gas Index 'IG Index GME' gas price trades at a premium to the Dutch TTF gas price, so we expect the Selva Malvezzi asset will continue to achieve a premium for its gas sales."
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended by virtue of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
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For further information visit www.prospex.energy or contact the following:
Mark Routh |
Prospex Energy PLC |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Ritchie Balmer |
Strand Hanson Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494 |
Andrew Monk (Corporate Broking) |
VSA Capital Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3005 5000 |
Neil Passmore Leif Powis |
Hannam & Partners |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7907 8500 |
Ana Ribeiro / Charlotte Page |
St Brides Partners Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Key terms of the GSA include:
Parties |
PVO, PXOG, UOG (JV Partners) and HERA |
Start date |
1 October 2025 |
End date |
1 October 2026
|
Extension of contract |
No automatic right to extend, parties to commence extension discussions at least 30 days before 30 September 2026
|
Termination rights |
Termination conditions standard for a contract of this nature including gas quality and delivery specifications and payment
|
SNAM delivery point |
Budrio 50202301
|
Gas supply volumes (estimate) - standard cubic metres
|
27,963,000 standard cubic metres for the thermal year ending 1 October 2026 (12 months) |
GSA gas pricing |
Linked to PSV Day-Ahead from Italian Gas Index (IG INDEX GME) "IG Index GME" is the reference index of the Italian Natural Gas Market. It is calculated by GME for each gas day as the arithmetic average of the prices of trades concluded in the 17:15-17:30 time bracket (including endpoints) in the continuous-trading Day-Ahead Gas Market (MGP-GAS) and in respect of Day-Ahead and WE products. Information on the "Methodology for calculating the Italian Gas Index IGI" published by the GME (Gestore Mercati Energetici) and is publicly available.
|
PVO supply volume nominations |
PVO to provide provisional nominations monthly, weekly and daily Actual and binding nominations required by 5pm (Rome time) on any day Nomination tolerance of +/- 10%
|
GSA payment terms |
GSA includes detailed invoicing process for gas sales and SNAM transport costs. Settlement and payment process completes 20 days after month end.
|
Contract management |
PVO as operator will handle exclusively the contractual management relating to appointments, nominations, calculation of transportation costs, price and revenue calculations. |