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Friday, March 21, 2014
A new award has been made for acreage in Western Sahara, this time the award comes from the Saharawi government. The government announced that the award was for a block in the liberated territory Bir Lehlou and went to Red Rio Petroleum Ltd. This award is under the PSC terms previously promulgated by the SADR.
The Bir Lahlou block is situated in the northeast corner of Western Sahara in the area controlled by the Frente Polisario, which leads the government of the SADR. The block overlies part of the Paleozoic Tindouf Basin, which sits over the top of a stratigraphic section of rocks ranging in age from Cambrian to Carboniferous, which is analogous to other sub-Atlas basins to the north-east, and which produce large amounts of gas and oil in Algeria.
In addition to exploring the block for conventional oil and gas deposits, Red Rio will conduct a feasibility study of the suitability of the Silurian Black Shale formation to allow production of gas or oil shale. Initial work will consist of measuring and sampling the Silurian formation in the outcrop, and analyzing the samples for total organic carbon content and degree of maturation or “cooking” undergone.
Following signature of the agreement with the SADR Government, Frederik E. Dekker, MD of Red Rio said: “We look forward to working with the SADR authorities in evaluating the potential of the Bir Lahlou block for oil and gas, and hope to bring another company with known shale gas and shale oil knowledge from the United States of America to help exploit the block in the second phase.”
Mhamed Khadad, Coordinator with Minurson and member of the Frente Polisario leadership, said: “This is a further demonstration of the SADR’s commitment to pursue the sovereign interests of the Saharawi people in respect of their natural resources in Western Sahara. We continue to encourage appropriately qualified and committed companies to consider partnership with the SADR Government, and will work constructively with Red Rio and our other partners to reveal and realize the enormous natural resource potential of our country.”
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