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Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Chariot Oil & Gas Ltd’s wholly owned subsidiary, Chariot Oil & Gas Investments (Morocco) Ltd., has been awarded a 75% interest and operatorship of the Mohammedia Reconnaissance License offshore Morocco in partnership with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) which holds a 25% carried interest. The new acreage is adjacent to Chariot’s Loukos and Rabat Deep licenses and sits in the near shore.
The Mohammedia Reconnaissance License covers an area of approximately 4,600 sq km with water depths less than 500 meters. The award remains subject to final approval from the relevant authorities.
As detailed in November, following the reprocessing and interpretation of extensive legacy 2D data on the Loukos licence, Chariot identified a significant Mio-Pliocene lead. This lead extends into Mohammedia and as a result it decided to relinquish those parts of the Loukos licence that it believed did not encompass this prospectivity and to request the award of the Mohammedia Reconnaissance License.
In addition to the extension of the Mio-Pliocene lead from Loukos, Chariot has also identified a possible extension of the Jurassic shelf edge play from the Rabat Deep area into Mohammedia, which will be investigated further through seismic data acquisition. This will ensure that Chariot and ONHYM are able to capture all of the potential identified within this region and maximize its information and understanding of its Moroccan portfolio.
Chariot contracted Dolphin Geophysical AS to carry out a single 3D seismic program of approximately 1,700 sq km across all three of its Moroccan licence areas using the Sanco Swift vessel, due to commence early April. Instead of shooting two separate campaigns across the regions of interest, the survey will comprise an estimated 1,075-sq km in Rabat Deep, about 250 sq km in Loukos Offshore and around 375 sq km in Mohammedia Reconnaissance. The objective of the combined survey is to mature drillable prospects in the Mio-Pliocene and Jurassic plays.
In carrying out this 3D seismic acquisition Chariot will have completed all of its commitments in each of its Moroccan licences during their current periods of exploration. This means that, once the 3D program is complete, the company will be able to enter into a full exploration permit with ONHYM for the Mohammedia area.
Following governmental approval of the Mohammedia Reconnaissance License award and the company’s application to enter into the First Renewal Phase in Loukos, Chariot will hold an estimated1155-sq km in the Loukos licence, with its total offshore Morocco acreage standing at just over 16,500 sq km.
Larry Bottomley, CEO commented: “We would like to thank ONHYM and the Ministry for their cooperation in securing this license. Our 3D seismic campaign will provide valuable information for further developing the potential in our Moroccan acreage, which, in the long term, will allow us to mature targets for drilling with a partner.”
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