Hurricane Hydrocarbons Completes Kazakhstani Acquisition

On March 31, 2000 Hurricane Hydrocarbons Ltd. (Hurricane) completed its acquisition from Central Asian Industrial Investments N.V. of 88.36 per cent of the shares of OJSC Shymkentnefteorgsyntez (“ShNOS”), the owner of the Shymkent refinery located in southeast Kazakhstan. At the same time, Hurricane received from Cannacord Capital Corporation and Credifinance Securities Ltd. the US$25 million proceeds of its recent offering of Special Warrants. With the proceeds of the Special Warrants and the cash available from its two Kazakhstani subsidiaries, ShNOS and OJSC Kharricane Kumkol Munai, Hurricane distributed approximately US$87 million to its noteholders. The closing of these transactions constituted the implementation of Hurricane’s Plan of Arrangement under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act which was reported on in the March edition of Lexpert, and completes the company’s two year odyssey to successfully restructure its financial obligations and its commercial relations with the Russian refinery.