Tunisia Operations
PetroAsian holds a 51% participating interest in the Ksar Hadada Permit in Tunisia, North Africa. The other partners are Petroceltic International Plc (27.03%), Independent Resources Plc (18.97%), GA.I.A. srl. (1.5%), and Derwent Resources (Ksar Hadada) Ltd (1.5%). PetroAsian farmed into the permit in June 2009, and have recently completed over 100km of 2D seismic acquisition and processing in late 2009 and early 2010. The company has secured a drilling rig in preparation for a two-well drilling campaign. These wells will test two highly prospective structures in the southern part of the permit, and drilling is expected to commence in summer 2010. Seismic mapping has also identified a number of other prospects on the permit, which will provide exploration potential for the permit going forward. A nearby pipeline connecting the El Borma Field (the largest in Tunisia) with the north of the country currently has spare capacity and would provide a convenient export option for future resource developments on the Ksar Hadada permit. Other export options exist also, with a number of ports and storage facilities within easy reach.
Ksar Hadada Oil & Gas Exploration
PetroAsian has entered into the first renewal period of the Ksar Hadada permit (5,609 sq. km) in Tunisia. The first renewal period of the permit began on 20th April 2008, and lasts for three years. In line with the Production Sharing Contract, PetroAsian, and its’ partners, Petroceltic International and Independent Resources, will start drilling two exploration wells in summer 2010. Upon commercial discovery, the Tunisian government will grant a 30-year development and production license to allow for the exploitation of hydrocarbons within the prospect.
In addition to the drilling of two wells, PetroAsian will acquire an additional 100 sq. km of 2D seismic data to further analyze the prospect. New interpretation of seismic and well data on the permit has yielded positive results with the validation of a number of Ordovician and Silurian prospects in the southern part of the block. Drilling on this licence has been deferred to allow the incorporation of recent positive exploration drilling results on adjacent permits. The participants of the Remada Sud licence immediately to the south of Ksar Hadada recently announced a successful oil discovery which has been independently assessed to contain 170 MMbbls of Stock Tank Oil Initially In Place in the Ordovician TT2 discovery, at a rate of 200 bopd. This adjacent discovery de-risks the Ordovician prospects on Ksar Hadada, and confirms the presence of a mature source rock and a working migration system in this area.
Key Points
On 8 June 2009, PetroAsian Energy signed a sale and purchase agreement with Petroceltic International Plc (dually listed on the AIM board of the London Stock Exchange in the UK and Dublin Stock Exchange in Ireland) and Independent Resources Plc (listed on the AIM board of the London Stock Exchange in the UK).
PetroAsian Energy has acquired a 51% participating interest in Ksar Hadada permit in Tunisia.
The Ksar Hadada Permit (Area 23) lies almost entirely onshore in southeast Tunisia, bounded by the Libyan border to the east.
Permit Area: 5,609 km2 (around 5 times the total area of Hong Kong).
Effective Date: 8th April 2004
There are altogether five prospects in the Ksar Hadada area including two Acacus prospectus. Well ST-3 was drilled in 2004, a 144 m column of oil show was recorded on log, with live oil fluorescence on the cuttings recorded over the same interval.
Work Commitment
Exploration Period: 4 years + 3 years + 3 years = 10 years
First Period (20th April 2004 – 19th April 2008)
1 well to Ordovician – Completed Work
100 km of 2D seismic – Completed Work
Second Period (20th April 2008 – 19th April 2011)
2 exploration wells
100 km new 2D seismic - Completed Work
Third Period (20th April 2011 – 19th April 2014)
Drill one well
