31 Jul 2013 07:00
For Immediate Release 31 July 2013
FRONTIER RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL PLC
("Frontier" or the "Company")
Operational Update: Namibia
The Board of Frontier (AIM Ticker: FRI), the AIM - traded international oil and gas exploration company with assets in Oman, Zambia and Namibia is pleased to provide the following operational update on its activities in Namibia.
Frontier's Blocks, located in the Owambo Basin in northern Namibia, cover an area of approximately 18,933 square kilometres. A two year exploration licence was granted on 20th January 2012. Frontier is the operator with a 90% working interest. The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia ("NAMCOR"), the Namibian National Oil Company, has a 10% carried interest in the licence.
The Company has recently contracted with Exploration Technologies Inc. ("ETI") of Houston, Texas to utilize ETI's proprietary sampling system to conduct a soil gas survey across the concession, Blocks 1717 and 1817 ('the Blocks"). ETI will utilize shallow soil gas sampling technology to evaluate the Blocks in order to determine their oil and/or gas potential and to identify areas for future seismic and/or geologic evaluation. The objective is to conduct a regional reconnaissance evaluation to define both background and anomalous areas of naturally occurring gases in the soil and, using ETI's gas chromatograph analysis technology to predict the likely composition of subsurface oil, gas or a combination of both in the survey area.
Using custom designed metal probes, soil gas samples will be collected over the Blocks and analyzed for C1-C4 hydrocarbon gases (Methane, Ethane, Propane, Butane) contained within the soil gas samples.
The samples will be collected on a regional grid along existing roads, tracks, paths and any terrain that is accessible via a field vehicle and/or walking. Global Positioning System (GPS) instruments will be used by the soil gas field crew to accurately locate the sampling sites and the samples will be shipped to ETI's Houston laboratory for analysis and review. The results of these analyses will allow the detailed mapping of the magnitude, distribution and composition of naturally occurring light hydrocarbon seepage over the study area.
Surface geochemical prospecting has been used in the past in the western region of the Owambo basin and appears to be a viable tool for determining the potential for the presence of source rock in the eastern area of the Owambo basin where Frontier's concession is located. The geochemical data acquired during the survey will be integrated with existing geologic and geophysical data to improve understanding of the hydrocarbon potential in the Blocks and to help focus on the most prospective areas for additional exploration operations.
The soil gas survey field data collection and laboratory analysis will take approximately two months, with final results expected in late September/early October.
Commenting on today's update, Jack Keyes, Frontier's CEO said:
"The acquisition of soil gas composition data will be the first exploration operations undertaken by Frontier on the Blocks.
We look forward to receiving and assessing the initial results to enable us to plan the next phase of our exploration activity."
Enquiries:
Jack Keyes, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +1 (713) 962 0887
Barbara Spurrier, Finance Director Tel: 020 3475 8108
Beaumont Cornish Limited
Nominated Adviser Tel: 020 7628 3396
Michael Cornish/Roland Cornish
Beaufort Securities Limited Tel: 020 7382 8300
Broker
Christopher Rourke / Guy Wheatley
Yellow Jersey PR Limited
Financial PR
Dominic Barretto/Anna Legge Tel: +44 (0)7768 537 739
About Frontier:
Frontier Resources International Plc, which was founded in April 2008, is focused on onshore oil and gas exploration and development in the Middle East and Southern Africa where the Company has technical knowledge and expertise. The Company currently has three exploration projects in Oman, Zambia and Namibia.
Frontier's immediate objectives are to continue developing its core exploration projects towards first production particularly in Oman where the Company's knowledge base is most advanced because of the proximity to producing oil and gas fields and the availability of existing seismic and well data.
The Company is incorporated in the United Kingdom with its registered office in London. It also maintains a technical and commercial office in the United States in Houston, Texas. Additionally, to support its regional operations in Southern Africa and the Middle East, offices are maintained in Namibia, Zambia and Oman.
The Company's shares were admitted to AIM of the London Stock Exchange on 5 July 2013.