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Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Chariot Oil & Gas saw its deal to have Woodside take over operatorship on the Rabat Deep offshore Morocco fall through. According to the company, Woodside elected not to exercise its option for operatorship and to fund well costs for a further 25% equity stake. Woodside will remain a partner on the license with a 25% working licensehowever.
Woodside’s decision to remain a minority partner will push drilling on the Rabat Deep back. Chariot now anticipates drilling to take place in 2016/2017, subject to the company securing another farm-in partner. As previously announced JP-1 is the focus prospect and contains 618 million barrels of gross mean prospective resources as estimated by Netherland Sewell and Associates on the 2D seismic data. This prospect remains technically robust on the 3D seismic and a Competent Person Report will be undertaken following the interpretation of the recently received pre-stack depth migrated data.
Chariot said that while the current market conditions are challenging, the large scale of the prospects in Chariot’s portfolio means that drilling success would create transformational value even at current oil prices. A dataroom for Rabat Deep will open in due course.
The company also commented on its Loukos and Mohammedia licenses saying that its interpretation of the pre-stack time migrated 3D data acquired in the 2014 seismic campaign has also generated several material prospects within the licenses, including the JP-2 prospect in the Jurassic play.
Recent work has also identified further oil-prone prospectivity within the Neogene. In line with Chariot’s focus on risk management, partners will be sought for these licenses to either participate in the drilling of the prospects already located, or to further the 3D seismic campaign across the permits. A dataroom will be opened once the Chariot team is satisfied that it has a full description of the prospectivity within the licenses to maximize the understanding of the value proposition for potential farminees.
An independent audit of the prospective resources associated with the 1,700 sq km 3D seismic campaign on these permits will also be carried out once Chariot has completed its internal evaluation of the pre-stack depth migrated data.
Larry Bottomley, Chief Executive of Chariot, said: “It is disappointing that Woodside has not exercised its option, but we remain optimistic regarding the potential of the Rabat Deep permits and particularly that offered by the JP-1 prospect.
“These are challenging times for oil and gas companies and investment decisions are being affected as a result. As mentioned previously, partnering is tougher, but we also believe that this climate can be an opportunity for those who are looking to take advantage of high potential assets, such as those within our portfolio. While the nature of the market is cyclical, the prospectivity that we see within our licenses remains transformational and Chariot’s strong cash position will enable us to take advantage of opportunities to further enhance our asset base.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Woodside and ONHYM on the development of the Rabat Deep permits.”
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