23 Jun 2014 07:00
Embargoed: 0700hrs 23 June 2014
Zoltav Resources Inc.
("Zoltav" or the "Company")
Russian Standard Reserves Registration
Zoltav (AIM:ZOL), the CIS-focused oil and gas exploration and production company, is pleased to announce that the Russian Federal Agency for Subsoil Use ("Rosnedra") has registered an additional 221 million barrels (mm bbls) of Russian standard C1 plus C2 oil reserves for the Koltogor Exploration and Production Licence and Koltogor Exploration Licence 10 (together the "Koltogor Licences").
The basis for the registration of additional reserves on the Koltogor Licences is:
(i) the incorporation into the Company's existing reservoir model of test data acquired by previous operators from Wells 71, 101 and 103 on the Koltogor Licences, as well as from Wells 121 and 151 on legacy Koltogor exploration blocks; and
(ii) the successful testing of the Bazhenov shale formation at Well 103 on Koltogor Exploration Licence 10; and of the Upper Jurassic Ju1-1 horizon at Well 103 that resulted in the discovery of the new West Koltogor oil field.
It should be noted that the Russian Federation Classification Scheme for reserves and resources is not directly comparable to the Petroleum Resources Management System ("PRMS") under which Zoltav reports the reserves and resources for its licences. C1 and C2 reserves under the Russian Federation Classification Scheme should not therefore be directly compared with Proved and Probable reserves under PRMS which may be significantly lower.
The Company does not currently envisage commissioning an update of its reserves and resources under the Petroleum Resources Management System until completion of the drilling of appraisal wells in the 2015/16 winter drilling season, the data from which may further influence the volumes of hydrocarbons attributable to the Koltogor Licences.
The tables below show the reserves now attributable to the Koltogor Licences under the Russian Federation Classification Scheme:
Russian standard reserves - Koltogor Exploration and Production Licence
Horizon | Starting Reserves | Registered 20 June 2014 | Increase % | |||||||
C1 | C2 | Total | C1 | C2 | Total | |||||
Bazhenov (Ju0) | mm bbls | - | - | - | - | 47.9 | 47.9 | |||
Ju1 above coal | mm bbls | 2.5 | 263.6 | 266.1 | 8.6 | 257.5 | 266.1 | |||
Ju1 below coal | mm bbls | - | - | - | - | 59.6 | 59.6 | |||
Ju3 | mm bbls | - | - | - | 0.5 | 29.1 | 29.6 | |||
Total | mm bbls | 2.5 | 263.6 | 266.1 | 9.1 | 394.1 | 403.2 | +51.5% | ||
Russian standard reserves - Koltogor Exploration Licence 10
Horizon | Starting Reserves | Registered 20 June 2014 | |||||||
C1 | C2 | Total | C1 | C2 | Total | ||||
Bazhenov (Ju0) | mm bbls | - | - | - | 1.3 | 32.6 | 33.9 | ||
Ju1 | mm bbls | - | - | - | 3.8 | 46.3 | 50.1 | ||
Total | mm bbls | - | - | - | 5.1 | 78.9 | 84.0 | ||
Koltogor Licences - Work Programme
Processing of the data acquired through Zoltav's 466 square kilometre 3D seismic programme (and 71 kilometres of 2D seismic) carried out over the Koltogor Exploration and Production Licence in 2013/14 is ongoing. It is anticipated that the processing and subsequent interpretation of data will be completed by the end of 2014, enabling the Company to plan an appraisal drilling programme to be carried out during the winter 2015/16 drilling season.
Additionally, Zoltav is continuing to utilise the all-weather road which provides year-round access to Well 141 on the Koltogor Exploration and Production Licence to carry out testing of the Bazhenov shale horizon in order to provide further data to enable it to plan future operations.
Zoltav intends to apply to Rosnedra for a new twenty-year licence for Koltogor Exploration Licence 10 with both exploration and production status; and thereafter to establish a work programme for this licence.
Commenting on the registration of additional reserves, Symon Drake-Brockman, Executive Chairman, said:
"This is a material uplift in the reserve base of the Koltogor Licences acquired by Zoltav last year and demonstrates that we have increasingly sizeable assets there. It is particularly exciting that we have identified a potentially material oil resource in the Bazhenov shale formation and we are reviewing our options with regards to the development of this unconventional oil play."
Qualified person
The technical information in this announcement has been reviewed by Dr Alexander Sokolov, the Company's Director Exploration. Dr Sokolov has 30 years' experience in the industry, having worked for Meggionneftegazgeologia (now part of TNK), the Siberian Oil Corporation, Sibir Energy plc and served as deputy director of the Russian State Institute for Geology and Development of Combustible Minerals (IGIRGI). He has also been a director of Chumpasneftedobycha (Heritage Oil). He has authored 25 publications and is a member of the Russian Society of Subsoil Use Experts.
Contacts:
Zoltav Resources Inc. | Tel. +44 (0)20 7016 9570 |
Symon Drake-Brockman, Executive Chairman | (via Vigo Communications) |
Shore Capital (Nomad and Broker) | Tel. +44 (0)20 7408 4090 |
Pascal Keane or Toby Gibbs (Corporate Finance) | |
Jerry Keen (Corporate Broking) | |
Vigo Communications | Tel. +44 (0)20 7016 9570 |
Patrick d'Ancona or Ben Simons | |
About Zoltav
Zoltav is an oil and gas exploration and production company focused on acquiring assets in the CIS, particularly in the Russian Federation.
Zoltav holds the Bortovoy Licence in the Saratov region of South Western Russia, a 3,215 square kilometre area along the northern margin of the Pre-Caspian basin, one of the largest hydrocarbon basins in the CIS.
The Bortovoy Licence contains a number of productive gas fields, a processing plant and significant exploration prospectivity. It holds Proved plus Probable reserves of 750 billion cubic feet (21.2 billion cubic metres) of gas and 3.9 million barrels of oil and condensate. In 2013 the Bortovoy Licence produced 13.9 billion cubic feet (392.6 million cubic metres) of gas and 300,000 barrels of condensate and oil.
Zoltav also holds the Koltogor Exploration and Production Licence, a 528 square kilometre area in the Khantiy-Mansisk Autonomous Okrug of Western Siberia, one of Russian's most prolific oil producing regions.
The Koltogor Exploration and Production Licence contains the Koltogor oil field with Proved plus Probable reserves of 75.2 million barrels of oil. Zoltav is engaged in an appraisal programme of the Koltogor oil field with a view to developing the field for commercial production.
Additionally, Zoltav holds Koltogor Exploration Licence 10, a 167 square kilometre area due west of the Koltogor Exploration and Production Licence on which Zoltav is engaged in an exploration and appraisal programme which includes targeting the Bazhenov shale formation from which the company has recovered oil.
Glossary of defined terms
Russian reserves system
The Russian reserves system is based solely on the analysis of geological attributes. Explored reserves are represented by categories A, B, and C1; preliminary estimated reserves are represented by category C2; potential resources are represented by category C3; and forecasted resources are represented by categories D1 and D2. Natural gas reserves in categories A, B and C1 are considered to be fully extractable. For reserves of oil and gas condensate, a predicated coefficient of extraction is calculated based on geological and technical factors.
Category C1 reserves are computed on the basis of results of geological exploration work and production drilling and must have been studied in sufficient detail to yield data from which to draw up either a trial industrial development project in the case of a natural gas field or a technological development scheme in the case of an oil field.
Category C2 reserves are preliminary estimated reserves of a deposit calculated on the basis of geological and geophysical research of unexplored sections of deposits adjoining sections of a field containing reserves of higher categories and of untested deposits of explored fields. The shape, size, structure, level, reservoir types, content and characteristics of the hydrocarbon deposit are determined in general terms based on the results of the geological and geophysical exploration and information on the more fully explored portions of a deposit. Category C2 reserves are used to determine the development potential of a field and to plan geological, exploration and production activities.
Category C3 resources are prospective reserves prepared for the drilling of (i) traps within the oil-and-gas bearing area, delineated by geological and geophysical exploration methods tested for such area and (ii) the formation of explored fields which have not yet been exposed by drilling. The form, size and stratification conditions of the assumed deposit are estimated from the results of geological and geophysical research. The thickness, reservoir characteristics of the formations, the composition and the characteristics of hydrocarbons are assumed to be analogous to those for explored fields. Category C3 resources are used in the planning of prospecting and exploration work in areas known to contain other reserve bearing fields.
"barrel" or "bbl" is a stock tank barrel, a standard measure of volume for oil, condensate and natural gas liquids, which equals 42 US gallons;
"mm bbls" means million barrels of oil.