Chariot Oil & Gas Limited, the independent Africa focused oil and gas exploration company, announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Chariot Oil & Gas Investments (Morocco) Ltd., has entered into a petroleum agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco (“Morocco”) for a 75% interest and operatorship in offshore licence Rabat Deep.
Rabat Deep is located adjacent to the Company’s recently acquired Loukos and Casablanca / Safi licences and covers an area of 10,782km², giving Chariot an aggregate acreage position of 16,207km² offshore Morocco.
This Agreement remains subject to approval from the authorities and once complete, Chariot will be partnered with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), the national oil company of Morocco, which will participate with a 25% carried interest.
The Agreement consists of an initial three year period, during which Chariot will reprocess existing 2D seismic datasets and then carry out a 1,000km 2D seismic survey. Once the results of the initial work programme have been received, Chariot may elect to move forward into subsequent phases of the Agreement which would involve the acquisition of 3D seismic data and, following this, undertaking of exploration drilling activities.
The Rabat Deep licence area is located 50km offshore in water depths ranging from 150m to 3,500m. Only one well has been drilled in the block and no 3D seismic has been acquired to date, despite the appearance of an extensive mobile salt basin that has been identified in the block, which lies adjacent to a carbonate platform with large potential reef geometries at the platform edge. Plays have been identified both in this carbonate platform as well as in Cretaceous sandstones overlying the salt. Charge is thought to be most likely from Jurassic source rocks but Paleozoic and Cretaceous source rock levels may also be present. The work programme is designed to confirm these key play elements in the first phase of work, progressing to prospect definition and drilling in subsequent phases.
Paul Welch, CEO of Chariot, commented:
“Morocco is a very desirable location for oil and gas exploration and we are very pleased to have acquired this additional acreage which is positioned to complement and balance our existing assets in this region. We now have a significant holding in this highly prospective province and we look forward to developing its potential. With these assets, alongside our licences in Namibia and Mauritania, we have expanded and secured a very promising portfolio of opportunities offshore West Africa.”
[mappress] Press Release, October 26, 2012