Anadarko International Energy Company, a subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, will join the other companies on the joint venture project area, which comprises Area 4, Block 3 and Area 5 on the Pelagian Platform in Maltese waters near Tunisia and Libya.
“Pancontinental is very pleased to have negotiated an agreement with a company having the technical and financial resources and the calibre of Anadarko,” chief executive officer Andrew Svalbe said.
“This agreement supports our view that Pancontinental has accumulated a number of highly interesting international petroleum exploration assets capable of attracting a major international exploration and production company.
"The Malta asset, with its high petroleum prospectivity, attractive government commercial terms, proximity to infrastructure and the European energy markets, justifies that interest.”
Under the agreement, Anadarko must pay for a regional 2D seismic program of up to 1,800 line kilometres. Once that is completed, the company must make a decision on entering a production sharing contract by June 30 2006.
The farminee must drill an exploration well at no cost to the original partners before the end of 2007 and no later than mid-2008.
But Anadarko can bring forward the spud date of the well if a drilling rig becomes available, according to Pancontinental.
When it completes the first well, Anadarko will have earned a 65% interest in the lease, rising to 75% if it takes up the right to drill another well within 120 days.
The exploration study area includes the currently defined Chianti or Limoncello Prospects, which have large, speculative reserve potential based on current seismic mapping by the current joint venture, according to Pancontinental.
Chianti has 455 million barrels (2P) to 1,223 million (3P) barrels of oil recovered potential, and Limoncello is estimated to have 968 (2P) to 2,555 (3P) million barrels of potential recoverable oil.
Significant producing oil and gas accumulations in neighbouring Tunisian and Libyan waters are analogues to these prospects, Svalbe said.
For example, in Tunisia the Miskar accumulation has an estimated 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas condensate recoverable, while there is 400 million barrels of recoverable oil at Isis.
In Libya, the Bouri accumulation has an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Anadarko was 354th on the “Fortune 500” list last year and produced 190 million barrels of oil equivalent from assets worth about US$20.1 billion, compared to BHP Billiton’s US$15.4 billion, Pancontinental said.
Current interests: Afrex Limited (operator) 48% (16.8% after drilling), Sun Resources 20% (7% after drilling), Pancontinental Oil & Gas 32% (11.2% after drilling). NB: Pancontinental’s interest will be 80% after its takeover of Afrex succeeds.
