History
Cheetah Oil & Gas borrowed heavily for Papua New Guinea drilling, restated its accounts, sold most of that asset to clear debt, then took small Mississippi oil interests before leaving SEC reporting in 2011.
2006-2007: Papua New Guinea and a debt problem
In March 2006 Cheetah closed the first part of a financing with a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank: a US$5,000,000 senior secured convertible note due March 14, 2007, plus 3,000,000 warrants at $3.42 per share. The money was meant for Papua New Guinea, mainly re-entry drilling and completion of the Kuru #2 well, and for working capital.
The year then turned awkward. In June Cheetah said its 2004 and early 2005 accounts could no longer be relied on, because it had accounted for its purchase of Scotia Petroleum Inc. incorrectly. In October it said a second set of statements was also unreliable, citing stock compensation that should have been capitalised, liquidated damages that should have been expensed, and the Macquarie warrants, which belonged on the books as a liability rather than equity.
In May 2007 Cheetah signed a letter agreement for Kepis & Pobe Investments to earn 90% of its Papua New Guinea licences, covering about 8,400,000 acres, by paying the first $11,500,000 of costs and helping settle about $13,500,000 of debts. The deal completed in November 2007, with Kepis & Pobe's rights assigned to Invicta Oil & Gas Ltd. Invicta took 90% of the British Columbia subsidiary that holds the licences, settled about $15,000,000 of debt, including about US$7,550,000 owed to Macquarie, and committed a further $10,000,000 by December 31, 2008. Cheetah kept 10% and issued 1,255,510 shares to three directors and officers under consulting arrangements.
2008-2009: Selling down and turning to Mississippi
In December 2008 Cheetah agreed to sell its interest in LNG Energy (BC) Ltd. to LNG Energy Ltd. for US$250,000, with a Cdn$300,000 demand loan forgiven. The filing does not say how this relates to the Papua New Guinea subsidiary, and completion was never confirmed. Kepis & Pobe's 3,000,000 warrants were cancelled.
In April 2009 Cheetah bought an 8% interest in the Belmont Lake field in Mississippi for about $186,000. It has two producing wells making roughly 130 barrels a day and 400,000 barrels of proven reserves. Cheetah also gained a 40% working interest on an option over more than 132,000 acres of exploration land, alongside Lexaria, Delta Oil & Gas and The Stallion Group.
In September 2009 Cheetah sold revenue interests in its share of the PP F-12-4 horizontal well: 40.432% to Golden Aria Corp. and 75% to David DeMartini, limited to a 500% gross payout. In return the buyers funded the well's costs. Sage Investments also released security over some assets.
2010-2011: Small financings and exit
By December 2010 the well had still not been drilled, and Cheetah relied on small financings, including a $24,000 loan from Cornelius O'Connell secured on its 8% well interest. Auditors had flagged going-concern doubt. Shares on issue rose from 11,103,625 at the end of 2010 to 13,039,000 at the end of 2011, though the beats do not explain the increase. In October 2011 Cheetah deregistered its securities, ending its obligation to file reports with the SEC.
Written from the 9 story beats below (2006 to 11 Oct 2011), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.