Tellus Resources acquires interest in Block 3114 in Madagascar in deal with Caravel Energy

Tellus Resources reported that it has agreed to acquire a 25% interest (with the right to acquire up to an 80% interest) in a drill ready and large scale oil exploration asset, located onshore on the Island of Madagascar, off the south-east coast of Africa.

The vendor of the asset is Caravel Energy. The terms of the transaction are summarised below.
 
The Asset, which comprises approximately 10,000 sq km of onshore acreage, has recently been the subject of a seismic campaign which has identified large scale oil targets together with at least one drill ready prospect. As such, a drilling campaign is planned to commence in the latter part of the year. The acreage the subject of the acquisition has recently been the subject of a seismic campaign which has identified large scale oil targets.As such, a drilling campaign is planned to commence in the latter part of this year.

Under the Sale Agreement the Company has agreed to acquire:
 
CRJ’s 25% shareholding interest in PetroMad being the company which owns a 100% interest in the Bezaha Oil Project concession located in Southern Madagascar – the Asset ; and all of CRJ’s rights and obligations under an agreement entered into with the owner of the remaining 75% interest in PetroMad and under which CRJ is entitled, subject to successful completion of staged work programs, to earn up to an 80% ownership interest in PetroMad.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.

Chevron sells interests in Chad, Cameroon

Chevron Corporation' s subsidiary, Chevron Global Energy Inc., has sold its 25% non-operated interest in a producing oil concession in southern Chad and the related export pipeline interests to the Republic of Chad for approximately $1.3 billion. The sale closed June 13.

"This sale demonstrates our focus on strategically managing our portfolio to maximize the value of our global upstream businesses," said George Kirkland, vice chairman of Chevron Corporation.

"These assets have played a significant role for Chevron in Africa for the past 14 years," said Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company. "They have been a profitable part of our portfolio for many years. The combination of current market conditions and the size of the assets relative to our portfolio make this an ideal time for a divestiture."

The transaction includes the sale of the Chevron subsidiary' s interests in seven fields in Chad' s Doba basin, which in 2013 had an average net daily crude oil production of about 18,000 bbl. The sale also includes the Chevron subsidiary' s approximate 21% non-operated interest in a pipeline system that transports crude oil to the coast of Cameroon as well as associated marine facilities.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.

Eni buys 40% stake in Sasol field off South Africa

Eni has concluded an agreement with Sasol Petroleum International to acquire a 40% interest and operatorship in the Exploration Right permit 236 (ER236) in South Africa.

The permit grants the right to explore for hydrocarbons on a wide offshore unexplored area of 82,000 sq km on South Africa’s east coast (Durban and Zululand basins), Kwazulu-Natal province.

The permit was granted to Sasol by the South African regulator Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) in late 2013.

Exploration

The agreement, which is subject to Government approval, reinforces Eni’s position on the East Africa coast, where Eni is already present with exploration activities in Mozambique and in Kenya.

The farm-in agreement forms part of a wider cooperation between Sasol and Eni in Southern Africa and other areas, mainly focused on maximizing opportunities in the gas value chain.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.

Sunbird-1 oil zone verified offshore Kenya

Pancontinental Oil and Gas reported it has verified that the recently completed Sunbird-1 well off the southern Kenyan coast has intersected an oil column the first ever oil discovered off the East African coast.

The gross oil column is assessed to be 14 m thick beneath a gross gas column of 29.6 m in a reefal limestone reservoir in the Sunbird Miocene Pinnacle Reef in area L10A. The corresponding net values are 9.2 m for the oil zone and 28.3 m for the gas zone. The Sunbird Reef is an ancient Miocene pinnacle reef buried beneath approximately 900 m of younger sediment.

Pancontinental believes the results are highly significant because they are the first proof of the presence a prospective oil system in the Lamu Basin offshore Kenya. The oil and gas have been geochemically typed in detail and the prospective source rocks have been dated and characterised for use in future exploration.

Analysis of the Sunbird results has been complicated by the loss of drilling mud, seawater and remedial cement pumped into the limestone reservoir during drilling operations.

Pancontinental has an 18.75% interest in the well and block L10A. Pancontinental has three extensive exploration areas in this highly prospective Basin covering a total area of approximately 15,000 sq km, including L10A. The detailed oil and gas geochemical data, which are confidential to the L10A Joint Venture partners, give the age and type of the oil source rocks, as well as other crucial data that Pancontinental believes places the L10A Joint Venture in a leading position to find commercial oil offshore Kenya.

The Operator of the Block L10A Petroleum Sharing Contract, BG Group, is continuing to analyse the well data and will recommend a future exploration programme using the well results.

The top of the Sunbird Miocene Pinnacle Reef was reached at 1,583.7 m sub-sea. The water depth is 723 m. Below the upper oil and gas zone, indications of low Wet Gas saturation were seen, although these are not considered to be volumetrically significant. The age and depositional environment of the oil source rocks have been determined by geochemical analysis, and remain commercially confidential to the L10A Joint Venture.

The presence of oil is supported by geochemical analysis of MDT samples, the pressure gradient of MDT samples, numerical modelling of the invasion of the oil zone and also fluorescence attributable to oil in samples. The reservoir zone was heavily flushed during well control operations, making determination of the oil and gas zones difficult.

Porosity and permeability of the hydrocarbon zone were favourable overall, and were very high in parts of the reservoir as evidenced by the loss of a large volume of drilling fluid.

L10A Consortium:

The Kenya L10A consortium consists of: BG Group (Operator) 50.00%, PTTEP 31.25% & Pancontinental 18.75%.

Pancontinental increases interest in L10B. Pancontinental advises that it has increased its interest in licence L10B, immediately to the south of L10A. The increase in interest is subject to the completion of documentation; however Ministerial approval has already been given.

The Kenya L10B consortium now consists of : BG Group (Operator) 75.00% & Pancontinental 25.00%.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.