Tangiers looks for partners

23 September 2011 – upstreamonline.com (Web)

Junior decribes blocks as ‘world class’ as it aims to halve its stakes by drawing in interest from other explorers.

PERTH-based junior Tangiers Petroleum is looking to secure farm-in partners by the end of this year for its gas prospective acreage off Morocco and Australia.

Tangiers, which aims to list on London’s stock exchange late this year, while retaining its Australian listing, has already had initial approaches from companies.

It will officially open data rooms within weeks covering its Tarfaya Block off Morocco and its WA-244-P and NT/P81 permits that straddle the maritime boundary between Western Australia and Northern Territory.

Speaking to Upstream, chairman Mark Ceglinski described these assets as “world class”, pointing out that four prospects in Tarfaya have been assessed by Netherland, Sewell & Associates as having a resource potential of almost 870 million barrels of oil.

The Australian acreage has much bigger resource potential, which Ceglinski said was estimated at more than 100 trillion cubic feet in two mega-structures, close to infrastructure and with liquefied natural gas potential.

Tangiers currently holds a 75% operating stake in Tarfaya off south-west Morocco’s and is partnered by state-controlled Onhym.

The acreage, acquired by Tangiers in late 2009, has “multiple hydrocarbon indicators”, including its location adjacent to the major Tarfaya oil shales onshore, the Cap Juby offshore oil discovery to the south and oil and gas seeps visible on seismic.

Ceglinski said his company would aim to farm out half its interest for a carry on a 1500 square kilometre 3D seismic shoot and two or three exploration wells to be drilled next year, plus a contribution to past costs. Given the asset’s shallow waters, a jack-up rig would likely be used for exploration work.

“We’re about to invite people into the Moroccan data room within a few weeks,” Ceglinski said.

He added: “There are some people who have been there for a little while waiting for additional work to be completed.”

WesternGeco is due to complete mapping of initial Cretaceous leads next month.

Ceglinski said the four Tarfaya prospects — La Dam, Trident, Assaka and TMA — are all Jurassic in age but pointed out Tangiers has also identified two other prospects — Zeus and Little Zeus — which are thought to be combined Jurassic-Cretaceous structures.

Ceglinski said Zeus has “very substantial potential” and it covers about 1030 square kilometres.

Tangiers has also discovered six new prospects that have Triassic potential. The company’s Australian acreage holds the Turtle and Barnett oil discoveries dating from the 1980s, which, once successfully appraised, Ceglinski said, could be exploited through five production wells tied back to a mobile offshore production unit.

Likely recoverable reserves stand at about 10 million barrels, he said. Project output will give the operator fast-track cash flow based on a gross investment of about $250 million.

However, Tangiers’ main goal here is to find enough gas to feed to liquefied natural gas infrastructure in the Darwin area, about 200 kilometres away.

Two prospects — Super Nova and Nova — have been mapped.

A gas pipeline from Eni’s Blacktip discovery to shore already runs through Tangiers’ acreage and, apart from LNG exports, nearby mining operations are in need of energy supply.

“We’ve had a few people in the data room who were admitted early because they’re in the area and we have good relationships with them,” said Ceglinski. “We aim to open up the data room far and wide soon.”

Similar to Morocco, Tangiers is looking to halve its 90% stake in the permits in return for a carry on two exploration probes next year after a 320-square kilometre 3D shoot that could be designed to cover the asset’s shallow oil discoveries as well as its deeper gas potential.

Ceglinski, who described himself as executive chairman and is also a managing director of boutique advisory company Carmichael Corporate, explained that although Tangiers has only four permanent employees at the moment it would want to retain a significant interest in any potential development going forward and would increase its staff accordingly.

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