Following these acquisitions, Bow says it will have the largest gross land position overlying the western Surat late-Triassic-to-Jurassic oil fairway.

“The ATPs give Bow a continuous acreage position in the western Surat Basin, which overly the Triassic and Jurassic-aged stratigraphic subcrop and onlap edges,” managing director Ron Prefontaine said.

Several oil fields have been discovered adjacent to and along these stratigraphic edges including the recent Donga-3 discovery, in which Bow holds a 42.5% interest.

“Bow interprets the potential for additional oil discoveries along this stratigraphic trend,” he said.

Bow, which will become operator of the permits, paid Tri-star Petroleum $200,000 cash for the blocks. Tri-star has retained a 3.125% overriding royalty, which can be converted to a 10% working interest after payout of past costs.

Over the next 12 months, Bow intends to participate in drilling at least two exploration wells in its western Surat holdings. This is in addition to planned appraisal drilling on Donga-3, conditional on the long-term flow test results.

Equipment procurement for the flow test is progressing and testing is due in January, Prefontaine said.

Donga-3 was Bow’s fourth well since listing and the first to show signs of becoming a producer. The Donga Prospect is interpreted from seismic data to contain up to a potential three million barrels of recoverable oil.