The company is cashed up for prospecting with its 11% stake in the successful Jingemia field delivering A$550,000 to Voyager in January alone. With production at the field still rising, and now at 4800 bopd, the firm estimates its net production income will exceed $7m during this calendar year.
“3D seismic is in the process of being acquired across the field and in the surrounding area, which should lead to selection of further development and exploration drilling locations, commencing in the second quarter of this year,” Voyager said in a statement to the ASX.
“The continued strong production performance provides strong support for the possibility that with additional wells, further increases to production could be achieved prior to mid year.”
With this money in hand, Voyager was not shy about increasing its equity in offshore licences WA-325-P and WA-327-P, which contain the Hadda (65 million barrel recoverable potential) and Flying Foam (20-30 million barrel recoverable potential) prospects.
Voyager acquired additional 2.5% interests from Bounty Oil and Gas, increasing its stake to 12.5%.
“This transaction will improve Voyager’s position at a modest cost and ensures very good leverage to the forthcoming drilling program,” the company said.
Bounty managing director, Tom Fontaine said then move also suited his company’s present needs.
“This modest dilution of our interests in these permits is consistent with Bounty’s risk management strategy,” Fontaine said.
“We are reducing our cash outlay for these wells while retaining enough interest to give us, we believe, the best leverage into this program.
"The expenditure savings will ensure we are well positioned to take advantage of other drilling opportunities that are emerging through our relationship with White Sands Petroleum [which has farmed into Bounty’s 40%-owned Utopia field in south-west Queensland].
Interests in WA-325-P and WA-327-P are now: Roc Oil (WA) Pty Ltd 37.5% (operator), Apache Northwest Pty Ltd 37.5%, Voyager 12.5%, Bounty Oil & Gas NL 7.5% and Wandoo Petroleum Pty Ltd 5%.
Voyager is also participating in two specialist seismic surveys in T/15 a permit that straddles the shoreline covering a prospective shallow water area between Cliff head and the coast and an onshore area near Jingemia.
“Although TP/15 is a difficult block to explore because of shallow water access issues, Voyager rates the prospectivity highly,” the company said.
“Voyager interprets that the same oil kitchen area sourcing the oil discoveries at Jingemia, Hovea and Eremia is accessed by the southern part of TP/15 and that the highly porous Dongara sandstone reservoir should be present in selected parts of the permit.”
Interests in T/15 are Arc Energy 30%, AWE 25%, Roc Oil 20%, Voyager Energy 15% and Norwest Energy 10%.
Meanwhile Cliff head-5 is due to be spudded in the third week of February and the Cliff Head joint venture (Voyager 6%) will have a milestone meeting on 25 February.
Voyager expects the final go ahead to be given to the Cliff Head project at this meeting leading to first oil by around the end of the year.
Although costs of the project have increased, Voyager expects to fund its share of development costs from existing cash reserves and production income, supplemented by debt.
