By Bryce Elder and Neil Hume
Published: October 14 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 14 2008 03:00
Urals Energy bounced sharply from a record low after it denied rumours that urgent debt refinancing talks had stalled.
The explorer, based in Siberia, needs to roll over more than $600m owed to Sberbank by the end of the month. It said it continued to target a “mutually satisfactory conclusion”.
A spokesman for Urals said while the refinancing was taking priority, the company remained in negotiations to move its biggest asset, a 35.3 per cent stake in the Taas Yuriakh oil group, into a joint venture. Russian media reported this month that Royal Dutch Shell had pulled out of the talks because of the “high likelihood” that a key licence would be recalled.
Urals closed at 22p, up 175 per cent. The stock reached 445p last April.
