VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/06/13 -- Westbridge Energy Corporation (TSX VENTURE: WEB)(FRANKFURT: PUQ1) ("Westbridge") is pleased to announce having entered into a letter of intent (the "LOI") with Ropat Petroleum Investments (PTY) Ltd. ("Ropat") to acquire a majority interest in the oil and gas exploration blocks 1911A relinquished, 1912B, 1910A relinquished and 2011A relinquished (the "Licenses") offshore Namibia (the "Transaction"), Westbridge and Ropat have signed a Petroleum Agreement dated February 1, 2013 with the Mining, Minerals and Energy Department of the Republic of Namibia in relation to the Licenses. Ropat is a private oil and gas company incorporated in Namibia.
Upon completion of the Transaction, Westbridge will be the Operator of the Licenses with a 75% interest. Ropat will have a 15% interest and the remaining 10% interest will be held by NAMCOR, the Namibian state oil company. NAMCOR's interest will be a carried interest with certain back-in rights for the Licenses.
Westbridge and Ropat have agreed to proceed diligently and in good faith to negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement in relation to the Transaction on or before February 28, 2013.
Consideration for the Transaction will comprise 5 million common shares in the capital of Westbridge (the "Westbridge Shares") to the shareholders of Ropat and a cash payment of US$500,000 on the closing date of the Transaction. The Westbridge Shares will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period from the date of issue and such other regulatory hold period imposed by the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V"). In addition the Westbridge Shares will be subject to a contractual hold period (the "Lock-up Arrangements") from the date of issue providing for release on the following basis: 1/3rd will be released 6 months from the date of issue, a further 1/3rd will be released 12 month from the date of issue and the final 1/3rd will be released 18 months from the date of issue.
In addition, Westbridge will make a cash payment to Ropat of US$1 million upon the satisfactory completion of the following conditions to be set out in a definitive agreement in relation to the Transaction:
1. receipt by Westbridge of an independent technical report from a reputable firm indicating the Licenses contain a risked, recoverable, P50 resource estimate of 1,000MMboe or greater; and2. Westbridge having a net cash balance of more than US$15million.
The Licenses
The Licenses are situated in the Walvis Basin in northern Namibia, close to the Namibia - Angola border. A map of the new acreage position can be viewed at www.westbridgeweb.com. The Licenses are contiguous to Block 1811B in which Westbridge currently has an 80% working interest and is Operator. The acquisition of the Licenses increases Westbridge's existing areal coverage in offshore Namibia from 1.4 million acres (5,854 square kilometers) to a total of approximately 5.3 million acres (21,448 square Kilometers). The Licenses are in the highly prospective Walvis Basin where operators HRT Participacoes em Petroleo S.A. (HRT) and Repsol S. A. (Repsol) have stated their intention to drill exploration wells in March, 2013 and March, 2014 respectively.
