Afren adjourns shareholder meeting as finalises restructuring measures

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Nigeria-focused oil company Afren (LSE: AFR.L - news) has deferred a shareholders' meeting scheduled for Friday until further notice as the debt-stricken company assesses its financial position in the wake of a likely steep downgrade in expected oil production.

Afren said on Tuesday it would delay a shareholder meeting initially scheduled for July 24 as well as a meeting pencilled in for July 29 to discuss possible restructuring measures.

"The postponement ... will allow Afren to finalise the review and engage with the relevant stakeholders to discuss the implications of the revised assumptions on the restructuring," the company said.

Afren shares were suspended in London on July 15 after it said near-term production from its fields would likely be materially lower than expected. This has complicated a restructuring the company has been going through to deal with its debts.

The company was forced to take nearly $2 billion in impairment charges and write-offs on its 2014 results due to a fall in oil prices and a realisation that reserves at an oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan had been overstated. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by David Holmes)