IC29 Jan 2022 16:56
Investors Chronicle
Dated 21-27 January 2022
Small Companies
by Simon Thompson
Chariot CHAR:10.75p
BUY
Anchois-2 well encounters high-quality
gas reservoirs with net gas pay of more
than 100m
Analysts double risked NAV and price
target to 54p
• Similar material exploration targets
with an estimated 2.45tof of potential
resources not included in valuation
Aim-traded Africa-focused transitional energy
group Chariot (CHAR:10.75p) has announced
drilling results that "materially exceed the
directors' expectations” at its flagship Anchois
Gas development, offshore of Morocco.
The Anchois-2 well has encountered
multiple high-quality gas reservoirs with a
calculated net gas pay totalling more than
100m, or almost double the level in the orig-
inal Anchois-1 discovery well. Net gas pay is
a key parameter in reservoir evaluation as
it identifies penetrated geological sections
that have sufficient reservoir quality and
interstitial hydrocarbon volume to produce
commercial quantities of hydrocarbon.
Analysts at house broker FinnCap note
that Chariot estimates that the Anchois B
sand prospect has a calculated total net gas
pay of more than 50m in two stacked reser-
voirs of similar thickness. The upper reser-
voir is a continuation of a reservoir drilled
in Anchois-1, with the lower reservoir being
newly identified. It suggests upside poten-
tial to the 247bn cubic feet (bcf) pre-drill 2C
contingent recoverable resource estimate in
the high-quality reservoir given it has a 3C
resource estimate of 375bcf. To put this into
perspective, finnCap's risked valuation of the
combined 361bcf pre-drill A and B sands 2C
resource is $215m (19p a share), but if the B
sands 3C resource is assumed then the broker-
age's valuation rises to $300m (27p a share).
The news gets even better because the
well also explored the deeper C, M and o
prospective sands and was successful at all
levels, encountering multiple gas-bearing
intervals across 250m with no water-bear-
ing reservoirs identified. The pre-drill
mid-case prospective resource estimate for
these three prospects was 543bcf. However,
fully geologically de-risked, and assuming 50
per cent commercial risking to account for
partnering, and FinnCap's pre-drill valua-
tion of $43m on the C, Mand o prospective
sands rises to $322m (29p a share).
So, with development funding interest high,
an offtake agreement with an international
energy group announced last autumn, and
excess gas to be sold into a tight European
gas market through the Maghreb gas pipe-
line, then the latest drilling success signifi-
cantly enhances the project's development
prospects, with first gas pencilled in for 2024.
Although FinnCap doubled its risked NAV
estimate to 54p a share, analysts have not
included any value for numerous similar mate-
rial exploration targets on the licence which
have an estimated 2.45tof of potential resources.
The holding has produced a 255 p