Both companies have agreed to each acquire a 25% interest in the prospect from US lease owner Mueller Exploration. Antares announced its farmin intentions in September last year.
Located in Wharton County, the New Taiton Prospect is a well-defined structural play targeting Wilcox Meek, B & C sands at depths of 14,000 to 17,000 feet (4,260m to 5,180m), according to Adelphi.
The New Taiton Prospect has mean potential reserves of 40 billion cubic feet of gas and upside potential of some 85 BCF if gas is present in the three stacked intervals, Adelphi executive director Alex Forcke said.
“The New Taiton Prospect complements Adelphi’s exploration portfolio because of its relatively low risk. But it has high-impact potential, especially at the prevailing high US gas prices,” Forcke said.
“We are expecting New Taiton to be drilled in the first half of the year, thereby adding the next Adelphi well for 2006 in conjunction with the drilling of our Sugarloaf prospect.”
New Taiton is about 200km from Sugarloaf, Adelphi’s other Gulf Coast basin drilling prospect. It is also about 10 kilometres from, and on trend with, other existing fields which produce 5-7 BCF of gas per well from the same reservoirs being targeted at New Taiton, the company said.
“The prospect is a robust structural trap clearly defined by 3D seismic and exhibits strong seismic attributes that correspond with the mapped structure,” Forcke said.
Adephi says the New Taiton Prospect differs to Sugarloaf as it targets a lower-risk prospect in a currently producing trend.
Under the farmin agreement, Adelphi will contribute 25% of the geological, geophysical, and land expenses, as well as 25% of the drilling and well completion costs to earn a 25% working interest.
“The USA continues to be an important area for Adelphi because the liquidity and depth in the US oil and gas asset market allows us to cherry pick oil and gas opportunities which have the right combination of cost, size and risk as well as the timing of drilling,” Forcke said.
“This approach enables us to participate in near-term drilling opportunities and to balance off the longer term approach we are taking in Yemen and elsewhere.”
