Last checked at 30 Oct 2012 09:43
30 October 2012
TANGIERS PETROLEUM LIMITED Quarterly Report for Period Ending 30 September 2012
The Board of Tangiers Petroleum Limited is pleased to provide the following commentary on its activities during the quarter ended 30 September 2012. A copy of the full quarterly report, including the diagrams referred to in the text and the Appendix 5B (Quarterly Cash Flow Report), is available on the Company's website at www.tangierspetroleum.com
September 2012 Quarter - Highlights
Corporate
* The Tangiers Board was reshaped on 7 September 2012, as Eve Howell was appointed Executive Chairman and Max de Vietri appointed Non-executive Director, joining existing Executive Director Brent Villemarette; the move was designed to strengthen management's oil and gas experience. * The Company is in the process of implementing a new strategy which will expand Tangiers' focus on African opportunities. * The Company announced an AUD 5.8 M raising on 24 September which will be used to underpin the aforementioned African growth strategy.
Africa: Morocco - Tarfaya Offshore Block
* Processing of the 677 km2 Assaka 3D seismic survey, which covers three of the Company's primary prospects Trident, TMA, and Assaka, is progressing with completion expected in late November 2012. * Test lines extracted thus far from the survey demonstrate the overall data quality is excellent and confirm the large Jurassic structures * Preliminary mapping of rollover anticlines in Triassic grabens underlying the Jurassic section has identified the presence of large structures; Tertiary, Cretaceous and additional Triassic age sections will be further evaluated in the coming months. * Organic geochemical analysis of oils, cores and outcrop samples has identified at least three and possibly four source rocks for the hydrocarbons in the Tarfaya area; Jurassic and Cretaceous source rocks are present and are viewed to be capable of generating two distinct families of oils. * Macquarie Capital (Europe), acting in the capacity of financial adviser for Tangiers, opened a physical data room in London in early June in order to provide potential farminee partner(s) access to seismic data, Independent Resource and Competent Person's Reports, and all available well data relating to the Tarfaya Block. * There has been substantial interest from potential farm-in partners for the Tarfaya Block aided by the fact that farm-ins to two nearby licenses have been recently announced; the Company expects to complete the process by the end of 2012. * Application was submitted to the Moroccan Ministry to enter into the First Extension Period of the Tarfaya Exploration Permit effective from August 2012 and extending for a period of two years.
Australia: WA-442-P and NT/P81 Exploration Permits
* ISIS Petroleum Consultants (ISIS), which was engaged by Tangiers to secure a farm-in partner for the WA-442-P and NT/P81 Exploration Permits, continues to entertain potential candidates in the physical data room located in Perth. * The Company is seeking a partner to promote future 3D seismic acquisition and exploration drilling programmes within the two Exploration Permits. * The focus is on the 14 Early Carboniferous age Milligans Fan oil play leads, the Nova deep gas prospect, the Super Nova deep gas lead as well as the potential shallower Turtle Barnett oil development. * ISIS has prepared a Competent Persons Report for the 14 Milligans Fan leads which provides a combined estimate of gross unrisked mean Prospective Resources of 218 million barrels of oil with a high side case of 505 million barrels of oil. * Additionally, a CPR prepared by ISIS for the Nova prospect provides an estimate of gross unrisked mean Prospective Resources of 3.46 trillion cubic feet of gas with a high side case of 7.83 trillion cubic feet of gas. * Tangiers has been pleased with the level of interest seen thus far from potential farminees and expects to complete the process by the end of 2012. * An environmental study is ongoing in advance of the 3D seismic acquisition programme to be acquired within the WA-442-P and NT/P81 Exploration Permits with completion expected by the end of 2012. * Tenders have been received for the acquisition of an approximate 500 km2 3D survey overlapping both permits and are presently being evaluated.
Australia: NT/P83 Exploration Permits (Arafura Sea)
* Tangiers was awarded the NT/P83 Exploration Permit in August 2012. * The 15,540 km2 permit is believed to have prospectivity in Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sediments and is located some 120 km north of Darwin in the Arafura Sea in water depths of less than 200 m. * The acreage is surrounded by wells with oil and gas shows and the large Evans Shoals and Abadi Gas Fields are located to the northwest of the block. * The initial plan is to acquire 500 km of 2D seismic data over the area.
Tarfaya Offshore Block - Morocco (75% and Operator)
The Tarfaya Block, offshore Morocco, is comprised of 8 contiguous permits and presently covers an area of 11,281 km2 (approximately 2.8 million acres) following the mandatory 25% relinquishment as Tangiers successfully completed the Initial Work Period and now enters into the First Extension Period. The Tarfaya Block is situated approximately 600 km southwest of Morocco's capital Rabat, inshore from the Canary Islands on Morocco's Atlantic Margin. The Block contains multiple prospects and leads within the Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments as well as emerging potential within the Tertiary and Triassic Formations.
Processing of the 677 km2 Assaka 3D seismic survey by CGG Veritas is ongoing with early results indicating the data quality is excellent. Completion of the processing programme is expected by late November 2012. The Assaka 3D survey encompasses three of the Tarfaya Block's primary prospects, Trident, TMA, and Assaka, which have been independently assessed by ISIS and NSAI to have a combined best estimate gross unrisked prospective resource of 758 million barrels of oil (with Tangiers' attributable interest 568m bbls). The four primary prospects certified thus far by ISIS and NSAI within the Tarfaya Block now all have been covered with 3D seismic data. The La Dam prospect with a best estimate gross unrisked prospective resource of 110 million barrels of oil (with Tangiers' attributable interest 82m bbls) has previously been covered by a 580 km2 3D seismic survey acquired in 2006 and reprocessed in 2011.
The Company continues to focus exploration efforts towards maturing leads identified within the shallower Lower Cretaceous Sands, Upper Jurassic dolomite horizons, and rollover anticlines in Triassic grabens underlying the Jurassic section. Preliminary mapping of these Triassic grabens has thus far identified the presence of large structures. In the coming months additional Triassic age sections as well as Tertiary and Lower Cretaceous formations will be evaluated.
Macquarie Capital (Europe) acting in the capacity of financial adviser for Tangiers opened a physical data room in London in early June in order to secure a farm-in partner for the Tarfaya Block and facilitate the Company's future exploration drilling programme. The process is well advanced and has been very well received with several potential farminees having expressed a strong interest in this farm-in opportunity. The interest was further enhanced by the recent announcements of farm-ins by Cairn and Genel to two nearby licenses. Tangiers expects to complete the process by the end of 2012.
WA-442-P (Turtle) and NT/P81 (Barnett) (90% and Operator)
These two contiguous Exploration Permits encompass 3900 km2 and are located approximately 20 km offshore in the southern, shallow Federal waters off of the northern Western Australia and Northern Territory coasts, approximately 320 km southwest of Darwin. The permits are located in relatively shallow water with depths of less than 60 m and are covered with extensive 2D and modest 3D seismic data.
Situated southeast of the producing Blacktip gas field, these two permits offer multiple play types. There is an oil play in the Early Carboniferous Milligans Fan horizon, an exciting new deeper gas play concept within the Early Paleozoic intervals, and the Carboniferous to Permian undeveloped Turtle and Barnett oil fields with the Messner and East Barnett oil leads at the same interval.
ISIS Petroleum Consultants has prepared a CPR for 14 leads identified in the Early-Mid Carboniferous Milligans Fan oil play. ISIS estimates the combined gross mean unrisked undiscovered oil-in-place to be 683 million barrels (615m bbls attributable to Tangiers) with a high side of 1,489 million barrels (1340m bbls attributable to Tangiers). The combined estimate for gross unrisked mean Prospective Resources for the 14 leads is 218 million barrels of oil (196m bbls attributable to Tangiers) with a high side case of 505 million barrels of oil (506m bbls attributable to Tangiers). The Milligans interval has produced oil and gas on drill stem tests of two well penetrations, Turtle-2 and Barnett-2, within the WA-442-P and NT/P81 Permit Areas. This serves to confirm the presence of an active petroleum system at this horizon.
The deeper gas play consists of two very large structures, Nova and Super Nova. These structures are believed to be located within Devonian aged sediments below the mapped Top Bonaparte horizon and underlie the Turtle and Barnett oil fields. An independent evaluation and CPR prepared by ISIS on the Nova prospect provides a gross mean unrisked undiscovered gas-in-place estimate of 6.93 trillion cubic feet of gas (6.24tcf attributable to Tangiers) with a high side case of 15.70 trillion cubic feet of gas (14.1tcf attributable to Tangiers). The corresponding estimate of gross mean unrisked Prospective Resources is 3.46 trillion cubic feet of gas (3.11tcf attributable to Tangiers) with a high side of 7.73 trillion cubic feet of gas (6.96tcf attributable to Tangiers).
The shallower undeveloped Turtle and Barnett oil fields were discovered in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Multiple oil bearing reservoirs have been encountered within the Carboniferous to Permian Keyling, Treachery, Kuriyippi, Tanmurra and Milligans formations. Three wells tested oil with the Barnett-2 well having flowed up to 921 barrels of oil per day on jet pump from the Early Permian Lower Treachery Sandstone. The crude oil was of excellent quality at 38.6° API gravity. Engineering and reservoir studies have been undertaken to assess suitable development concepts.
Tangiers is seeking a farm-in partner to promote future 3D seismic acquisition and exploration drilling programmes within the WA-442-P and NT/P81 Exploration Permits. ISIS Petroleum Consultants (ISIS) has been managing the ongoing process and continues with presentations to potential candidates in the physical data room located in Perth. Tangiers has been pleased with the level of interest seen thus far from potential farminees and expects to complete the process by the end of 2012.
NT/P83 Exploration Permit, Offshore Darwin, Arafura Sea (100% and Operator)
Tangiers acquired the NT/P83 Exploration Permit (formerly NT P11-1) located some 120 km north of Darwin in the latest bidding round for offshore acreage that closed on 12 April 2012. The permit was awarded to Tangiers in August 2012 and covers 15,540 km2 in water depths of less than 200 m. No wells have been drilled in the block although there have been shows of hydrocarbons in wells drilled to the east and west of the block. The large Evans Shoals and Abadi Gas Fields are located to the northwest of NT/P83. Evaluation by Tangiers Petroleum has shown that there are three main play types in the block. There are Palaeozoic subcrop and deep anticlinal closures, Jurassic reactivated tilted fault blocks and inversion structures, and Cretaceous clastic stratigraphic plays in prograding shelf sands of the Puffin Formation and Darwin Radiolarite. During the first phase of the exploration program, the focus is on acquiring approximately 500 line km of 2D seismic data.
ATP-587-P Cooper/Eromanga Basins, Onshore Queensland (100% and Operator)
ATP-587-P consists of 12 Blocks to the west of the Thomson River between Stonehedge and Jundah southeast of Longreach and covers approximately 946 km2. The company is currently assessing its long term plans for this permit which include potential relinquishment.
Qualified Person
The information in this announcement was produced by Mrs Margaret Hildick-Pytte who is the Director of Exploration for Tangiers and Mr Brent Villemarette who is an Executive Director of Tangiers. Mrs Hildick-Pytte holds a BSc and MSc in Geology and is undertaking an MSc in Petroleum Engineering. She is a member of SPE, AAPG, the SPWLA and PESA; and is a Fellow of the London Geological Society. Mr Villemarette is a petroleum engineer with over 30 years of experience and is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Mrs Hildick-Pytte and Mr Villemarette have reviewed this announcement and consent to its release.
Terminology and standards adopted by the Society of Petroleum Engineers ("SPE") "Petroleum Resources Management System" have been applied in producing this document.
Under these standards:
"Undiscovered Oil Initially in Place" is that quantity of oil which is estimated, on a given date, to be contained in accumulations yet to be discovered. The estimated potentially recoverable portion of Undiscovered Oil Initially in Place is classified as Prospective Resources, as defined below; and
"Prospective Resources" are those quantities of oil or gas which are estimated, on a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations.
KRYSTEL KIROUJoint Company SecretaryTangiers Petroleum LimitedLevel 6, 5 Mill StreetPerth WA 6000, AustraliaPh: +61 8 9485 0990 www.tangierspetroleum.comContactsRFC Ambrian Limited (Nominated Adviser)Mr Stuart Laing+ 61 8 9480 2506Old Park Lane Capital PLC (Joint AIM Broker)Mr Michael ParnesMr Luca Tenuta+ 44 20 7493 8188Shore Capital Stockbrokers Ltd (Joint AIM Broker)Mr Jerry KeenMr Bidhi Bhoma+ 44 20 7408 4090
Mr Ed Portman (Media and Investor Relations - United Kingdom) Tavistock Communications + 44 20 7920 3150
PINX