The farm-out agreement for Rabat Deep Offshore permits I-VI off Morocco between Chariot Oil & Gas and Eni has been approved by the Moroccan authorities.
As a result, operatorship of these permits has been transferred to Eni.
To remind, Chariot signed a farm-out agreement with Eni on March 30, 2016, for the transfer of operatorship and a 40 percent equity interest in the Rabat Deep Offshore exploration permits I-VI, offshore Morocco, to the Italian company in return for a capped carry on drilling the JP-1 prospect.
Chariot said on Monday that, as a result of the approval, Eni has operatorship and a 40 percent equity interest while other partners are Woodside with 25 percent equity interest, Chariot with 10 percent equity interest and Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) with 25 percent carried interest.
Apart from a capped carry on drilling the JP-1 prospect, the deal also entails a carry on of other geological and administrative costs relating to Rabat Deep and a recovery of Chariot’s investment to date.
The JP-1 prospect, which will be targeted by the RD-1 well, is a large, four-way dip closed structure of approximately 200 square kilometers of areal extent, with Jurassic carbonate primary reservoir objectives and an independently audited gross mean prospective resource estimate of 768 mmbbls.
Larry Bottomley , CEO of Chariot said: “We are pleased to have satisfied all conditions precedent and welcomed Eni as the operator of the Rabat Deep acreage. We anticipate that further to completing the Environmental Impact Assessment, finalizing well planning and securing a rig, drilling will now occur in early 2018.”
Bottomley also added: “Retaining a 10 percent equity interest in this well has the potential to create transformational value in the success case due to the large scale prospective resources, excellent contract commercial terms, and robust economics. Success will also materially de-risk other targets we have identified within our neighboring Mohammedia permits in which we hold a 75 percent interest.”