Chariot Sells Stake in Namibia Block to BP

- Chariot Sells Stake in Namibia Block to BP

Monday, August 08, 2011
Chariot O&G Ltd.

Chariot announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Enigma Oil & Gas Exploration (Pty) Limited, has entered into a farm-out agreement with BP, whereby BP will acquire a 50% share of Chariot's equity interest in Southern Block 2714A (License 20). As announced on June 28, 2011, Petrobras has elected to take up operatorship and retains a 50% stake in the block.

Under the terms of the agreement, BP has committed to cover Chariot's cost of drilling the first exploration well, as well as past costs incurred.

Block 2714A is located in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia and covers an area of 5,481km². The Nimrod prospect is situated within this license and is the largest of Chariot's prospects. With this farm-out, Chariot will continue to pursue its drilling campaign within this license area whilst sharing in the costs, risks and rewards of exploration. Funds received and retained through this deal will be used in further exploration and appraisal work.

This agreement remains subject to the full approval of the Ministry of Mines and Energy in Namibia. It includes standard representations and warranties given by both parties and other conditions precedent.

Paul Welch, Chief Executive of Chariot, said, "We are delighted to enter into this farm-out agreement with BP whose global expertise of deep water exploration and related petroleum systems is exceptional and whose contribution to our campaign going forward will be invaluable. It is a pleasure to welcome another major oil company as a partner.

"It has been a key strategic objective for us to farm down our assets in order to facilitate exploration drilling, retain capital and mitigate risk; we are very pleased to have made progress towards this. We look forward to proving up the potential of our assets alongside our partners, as we seek to deliver long-term value to our shareholder."

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Namibia Sees 11 Billion Barrels In Offshore Oil Reserves

- Namibia Sees 11 Billion Barrels In Offshore Oil Reserves

Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
WINDHOEK

An estimated 11 billion barrels in oil reserves have been found off Namibia's coast, with the first production planned within four years, mines and energy minister Isak Katali announced Wednesday.

The finding could put Namibia on par with neighboring Angola, whose reserves are estimated at around 13 billion barrels and whose production rivals Africa's top producer, Nigeria.

Katali said that Enigma Oil & Gas, owned by London-listed Chariot Oil & Gas, has identified 11 prospects along the southern coast.

"The largest of these, the Nimrod Prospect in 350 meters (1,150 feet) depth, and most likely reserves in the event of success are estimated to be greater than four billion barrels," he told parliament.

"Enigma expects to find oil rather than gas," Katali said, adding that first production could begin as early as 2015.

Enigma holds a 50% equity in the offshore Southern Block together with Brazil's Petrobras.

According to Katali, another Brazilian company, HRT Oil & Gas Ltd, has raised $1.3 billion on the Brazilian stock market, with $300 million earmarked for oil and gas exploration in Namibia.

He said that HRT has certified about 5.2 billion barrels of potential reserves.

"This finding could turn offshore Namibia into a great producer of oil and gas in a short time," Katali said.

In his statement to Parliament, Katali added that HRT would drill three to four wells in that area as early as next year.

Another find off Namibia's central coast called Delta Prospect contained recoverable resources of up to two billion barrels of oil, by Arcadia Expro Namibia and British firm Tower Resources, he said.

"We expect that six to eight wells to be drilled in Namibia's waters in the next 18 months, the highest number in Namibia's exploration history," he said.

Namibia has long been seen as a potential new source of oil, hampered by a lack of exploration to determine the extent of its reserves. Its offshore geology is similar to Brazil, which is seeing a boom in oil.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Tower Updates Namibia Prospect Potential

- Tower Updates Namibia Prospect Potential

Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tower Resources

Tower Resources plc has provided details of the outcome of a second detailed technical and economic evaluation of the 0010 Licence, located offshore Namibia. Tower has a 15% working interest in the Licence and is fully carried financially by Arcadia Expro Namibia (PTY) Ltd (“Arcadia”) through an initial exploration well and a contingent second well.

The Tower Board has now received an updated Competent Persons Report, compiled by Oilfield International Limited (OIL), over Licence 0010. The CPR update follows the interpretation of the high quality 3D seismic data acquired in 2010 over the primary drilling target "Delta". OIL conducted a detailed review of the “Delta” structure and calculated the Expected Monetary Values (EMV’s) of the prospects and leads identified. OIL also updated the EMV of two other structures, ”Alpha” and “Gamma” which were the subject of the previously reported June 2010 CPR on Licence 0010.

The main conclusions of the CPR are summarised below.

The Delta Maastrichtian prospect remains the principal target for an exploration well. Best estimate prospective resources (50% probability) have been estimated as follows:

In the event of volatile oil, gross recoverable resources amount to 2.2 billion barrels and 3.4 trillion scft of natural gas. Net figures for Tower are 317 million barrels and 484 billion scft of natural gas.

In the event of gas condensate, gross recoverable resources amount to 267 million barrels and 8.1 trillion scft of natural gas. Net figures for Tower are 38 million barrels and 1.15 trillion scft natural gas.

In the event of dry gas, gross recoverable resources amount to 20 million barrels and 8.2 trillion scft natural gas. Net figures for Tower are 3 million barrels and 1.17 trillion scft natural gas.

Gross un-risked prospective recoverable resources from the Delta Palaeocene supplementary prospect and the other Licence wide supplementary leads at the 50% probability level amounts to about 10 billion barrels and 15 trillion scft of gas for the volatile oil cases and 35 trillion scft in the case of predominantly gas.

OIL has calculated for the Licence net risked prospective resources to Tower as 150 million barrels oil and 719 billion scft natural gas (together ca 270 million barrels oil equivalent). More importantly, the corresponding numbers for the target Delta Maastrichtian prospect alone are 55 million barrels oil and 257 billion scft of natural gas (together ca 98 million barrels oil equivalent).

OIL has calculated an EMV for the prospective resources of Tower and, in just the Delta Maastrichtian prospect, an EMV of US$744 million has been calculated. The Board believe there is also a very high upside in the other Delta horizons.

OIL has determined that there are now two prospects at Delta. The Maastrichtian prospect has been confirmed and the Palaeocene lead has been upgraded to a prospect. There are now three supplementary leads within the Delta structure: the Upper Campanian; the Campanian “wedge”; and at a deeper Albian horizon. The Alpha Palaeocene and Gamma Palaeocene leads are separate structures and would be the subject of further 3-D seismic before drilling.

OIL has used the seismic data, the two Namibian wells on the block and regional data to evaluate the likelihood that the reservoirs would be predominantly light oil-bearing; gas condensate-bearing or dry gas-bearing. For Delta, OIL concludes probabilities of 50%, 40%; and 10% respectively. The Gamma and Alpha structures are rated 45%, 44% and 11% respectively.

OIL have engineered the most likely development approach and associated capital cost, operating cost and production profiles for each case together with currently traded oil and gas prices (gas into Europe), escalated to 2020 first production and beyond. They have calculated NPV 10% after-tax values on that basis for each case. Each has been valued on an independent standalone basis to avoid trying to determine economies of shared facilities.

The final step has been to estimate a geological chance of success (“GCOS”) for each structure. DeltaM has been assessed as having a 40% GCOS and DeltaP a 24% GCOS. The leads have a GCOS ranging between 10 and 20%. An economic confidence factor has then been applied to the geological COS’s to calculate the economic COS “ECOS” which is used in the determination of risked reserves and the EMV calculations. DeltaM has a 31% ECOS; DeltaP a 19% ECOS; and the leads between 8% and 12%.

The OIL review team included two geophysicists, a geologist and a petroleum engineer having a total of 125 years of experience as technical specialists in the oil and gas industry. In particular, two of them have considerable experience of South America where South Atlantic exploration is most advanced. The OIL assessment has been undertaken in compliance with the SPE Petroleum Resources Management System (SPE-PRMS). OIL has had access to all available data from the Licence and a wide variety of regional technical information. They reviewed the work undertaken by Arcadia and specialist consultants and where relevant, undertook technical analysis of their own to accommodate their own wide and relevant experience, particularly of the Brazilian basins, and any publicly available information. Interaction with Arcadia took place to understand their technical approach but the conclusions drawn are entirely those of OIL.

The first exploration well, currently anticipated at the end of Q1 2012, will test as many as five zones of interest including two prospects and three leads targeting a “best estimate” resource potential of an estimated 6-12 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent (gross) depending on whether the fluid is predominantly gas or oil respectively.

Peter Kingston, Chairman of Tower Resources plc, commented: “The comprehensive independent reassessment of the prospectivity of Namibia Licence 0010 has confirmed its potential as a world class group of oil and gas prospects. It is particularly encouraging that the 3-D seismic survey has substantially increased the reserve potential of the Delta structure and has led to an improvement in the chance of success with the first well. This well alone, still on schedule for the end of Q1 2012, will test a resource potential of significantly more than 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.”

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Tower Resources Spies Hydrocarbons in Namibia

- Tower Resources Spies Hydrocarbons in Namibia

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tower Resources plc

Tower announced its final results for the 12 months ended December 31, 2010.
Highlights:

• Namibia
  • Independent Competent Persons Report (CPR) in mid-2010 confirmed huge potential based on 2-D seismic
  • 3-D seismic survey interpretation has been completed since the year end and confirmed clear structural closure, sustained reservoir thickness and direct hydrocarbon indicators at the main Maastrichtian prospect level
  • A recently identified Albian age reservoir may be significant.
  • 3-D AVO interpretation fine tuning still in process but near completion
  • CPR update incorporating full 3-D interpretation underway and due for completion by end-June 2011
  • Financial and operational planning activities in progress with a view to drilling early in 2012
• Uganda
  • Prospectivity of EA5 has been enhanced by the results of an aero gravity gradiometry survey
  • A probable oil generation kitchen has been identified
  • A large high structural area has also been identified where reservoir quality may be productive
  • A seismic survey is ready to begin so that a well can be drilled before the end of 2011

Commenting on the results, Peter Kingston, Executive Chairman of Tower said, "The 3-D seismic data acquired in Namibia has confirmed the exciting potential in the Delta Maastrichtian reservoir with very strong hydrocarbon indications being seen. A second potentially significant reservoir has been identified in a formation of Albian age and the secondary leads have been confirmed to be present. A well early in 2012 will finally test one of the world-class, multi-billion barrel resource potential prospects in the Company's Namibian License. While Namibia can transform Tower as a company, I am pleased that Uganda may still deliver substantial shareholder value from a well in the second half of this year. The next year promises to be one of the most exciting of my professional career."

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Tower Resources Notes Seismic Ops in Namibia, Uganda Licenses

Tower Resources Notes Seismic Ops in Namibia, Uganda Licenses

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tower Resources plc

Tower Resources provided an update on its current operations in each country, managed by wholly-owned subsidiaries Neptune Petroleum (Namibia) Limited and Neptune Petroleum (Uganda) Limited.
Namibia

In License 0010, offshore Namibia, where Neptune Petroleum (Namibia) Limited has a 15% carried interest, interpretation of the 3-D seismic is well advanced with initial conclusions delivered from all of the specialist consultants. Clear structural closure, sustained reservoir thickness and direct hydrocarbon indicators - AVO anomalies and pock marks - have been confirmed at the main Maastrichtian prospect level. Additional potential is confirmed at the Palaeocene horizon (defined as a lead in the Competent Persons Report (CPR)) but also at two other formations deeper than the Maastrichtian. The very large structural closures are confirmed and, therefore, the indicated additional reservoir horizons substantially increase the resource upside potential.

Arcadia Petroleum Limited, operator of License 0010, which is funding Tower for the cost of the first well, is making progress with its program to put in place funding and to contract a deep water drilling rig with a view to drilling around the end of 2011. At present, there appear to be suitable rigs available during the target period. A CPR is currently being updated with a targeted publication early in June 2011.
Uganda

A letter of intent in advance of a contract for the 2-D seismic program of 150-200 kms has been signed with TESLA-IMC International Limited and line clearance is expected to begin by late April. Completion is targeted for end June 2011, by which time a well location can be selected. A high density geochemical survey, conducted by GORE Geochemical Surveys, is also underway over the prospect area together with focused sampling around the two existing wells and an oil-bearing well in EA1. The Environmental Impact Assessment and early operational planning for a third well have begun. Now that the political uncertainty with respect to long term development planning in Uganda appears to have been resolved, a final phase of the farm out program has been initiated. The Tower Board has raised the additional equity capital required to undertake the seismic program on schedule and a well can still be drilled in October 2011, subject to rig availability. If the cost of seismic is subsequently met by a third party, the funds will be deployed on new projects.

Peter Kingston, Executive Chairman of Tower Resources, commented, "I am pleased to confirm that the first well in Namibia, to test the huge potential of the Delta prospect, remains a target within a year. The 3-D seismic interpretation has confirmed the 2-D seismic interpretation but has also opened up significant potential from additional reservoirs. I am also pleased that the Uganda seismic and well program is still on schedule."

Chariot O&G In Talks to Farm-Out Blocks Offshore Namibia

Chariot O&G In Talks to Farm-Out Blocks Offshore Namibia

Thursday, March 31, 2011
Chariot O&G Ltd.

Chariot O&G provided an update on the farm-out process and progress with regard to drilling plans and further exploration work achieved across its license acreage offshore Namibia.

Chariot has been very encouraged with the offers that have been received to date and reported that it is at the advanced negotiation stage on several blocks in the farm-out process. Discussions continue and the Company looks forward to updating the market with further information shortly.

Chariot remains committed to drilling its first well in 4Q 2011 and is pleased to report that a contract has been signed with Senergy (GB) Ltd to provide drilling and support services for its planned wells on the Tapir North (Northern License) and Nimrod (Southern License) prospects. Chariot management and a team from Senergy recently visited Namibia as part of this process, meeting with government officials and local contractors. As previously stated, Chariot is planning to drill one well in 4Q 2011 with a second in 1Q 2012.

Chariot also reports that additional attribute analysis and mapping work has continued on the 3D seismic acquired in the Southern blocks. As a result it expects to release a further resource update following the completion of this work in the early part of the second quarter.

Paul Welch, CEO of Chariot commented, "Our farm-out efforts continue to be our main focus of activity and these discussions are progressing very well. Concurrent to these negotiations, we are very pleased with our developments in regard to moving our drilling efforts forward. This year is going to be one of significant progress for the Company and I look forward to providing updates in due course."