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Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Pura Vida Energy has officially exited Morocco’s Mazagan Permit and ONHYM has signed the settlement agreement. Pura Vida and its partner PXP Morocco, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas, have elected not to continue into the next optional phase of the Mazagan permit and have withdrawn from the permit.
Under the terms of the settlement, Pura Vida has, or will receive, a cash settlement sum of $7 million, inclusive of a deposit of $1.5 million received by Pura Vida in September 2016, with the balance payable by PXP; and a substantial amount (2,376 metric tons) of drilling equipment left over from drilling operations. This equipment was acquired by PXP in relation to the second well and a relief well and includes two well heads, casings, tubulars and associated drilling equipment. This equipment is sufficient to drill two wells each to a depth of approximately 3,000 meters.
As previously reported, Pura Vida intends to focus on its Nkembe Block offshore Gabon, in particular the commercialization of the Loba discovery as well as near term exploration potential around the Loba. To this end, the drilling equipment has been shipped to Gabon where Pura Vida intends to use it for drilling operations in the Nkembe block.
Managing Director, Damon Neaves, said: “I would like to express our gratitude to the regulator, ONYHM, the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco as well as our joint venture partner, PXP, for their efforts in relation to the Mazagan permit culminating in the drilling of a deep water well last year which tested multiple exploration plays. We have made the decision to exit Mazagan in order to focus our strategy on near term, lower risk opportunities such as the commercialization of the Loba discovery in Gabon.”
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