Octanex said today that the rationale for its merger with Peak Oil & Gas was its interest in the latter's Asian assets. This was according to a report published by Upstream. Earlier this month, the two oil companies agreed on a merger via exchange of shares. Under the terms of the deal, Peak will be merged into Octanex, the report said.

Peak, recently known as Raisama, has a market capitalization of AUD4 million. Octanex, on the other hand, is worth about AUD47 million, said the report.

The merger with Peak would bring Octanex exposure to a product development project in the Philippines. The deal would also expose Octanex to the highly-prospective exploration area in Indonesia. Moreover, a seasoned management and technical team comes will be provided by Peak, the report stated.

Geoff Albers, chairman of Octanex, said, "(The main rationale) for our support of Peak is our interest in the two projects which they hold; a brownfields oil development in the Philippines (Cadlao) and a well-situated onshore exploration block in North Sumatra (South Block A)."