Elephant oil's Matt lofgran in 201528 Jul 2020 14:20
did an interview with Ben Turney.
Here is a small part of what he said in the interview:
(Ben Turney): "Having decided to focus on Bénin, how did you go about entering this country and securing the Block B licence?"
(Matt Lofgran): "In January 2013 we created Elephant Oil Limited focusing on Benin. It then took roughly ten months of negotiations with, and getting to know the Ministry of Hydrocarbons (MERPMEDER, which is the French acronym) and SOBEH, the national oil company, before we secured the Block B Licence. These things always take time, but the early effort we put in has more than paid off. We have built strong relationships on the ground and have found local stakeholders are keen to help us.
Once we had reached agreement with the Ministry, Gavin Burnell, our non-executive director, quickly raised the money we needed from his network of contacts, and within 60 days, we paid for and secured Block B. As first mover onshore in Benin, we were given the pick of the available blocks and this was our preferred choice"
(Matt Lofgran): "The licence blocks in Benin are set up on three, 3-year terms. Assuming commercial oil is discovered, there is the option for a further 25-year Production Sharing Contract, with a 10-year extension subject to size and extraction rate of discovery. These contract periods are generous and much longer than typically seen elsewhere, reflecting Benin’s desire to develop the industry onshore.
When it comes to the end of the first three years, Elephant Oil will relinquish 25% of Block B and then another 25% at the end of the second three year period. This focuses attention and requires a high level of discipline to get the best out of our blocks as quickly as possible. This is standard practice across the industry globally.
Having analysed the results of the previous 2D-seismic work and our own airborne survey, our efforts have since been dedicated to identifying leads and drill targets. We have identified a very large leads in our primary target area. We’ve done some initial work on a potential target size, but it is too early to quote any results, other than to say we are encouraged by what we have seen.
We will finish this initial seismic work in 2016, when the first exploration phase comes to an end. We will then have a commitment to drill an exploration well in the second phase, and another well during the second phase. This will be the first onshore exploration well in Benin’s history."
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