Chariot awarded exploration permits offshore Morocco
LONDON -- Chariot Oil & Gas’ wholly owned subsidiary Chariot Oil & Gas Investments (Morocco) Limited has been awarded a 75% interest and operatorship of the Mohammedia Offshore Exploration Permits I - III in partnership with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), which holds a 25% carried interest.
The Mohammedia permits sit in the nearshore and cover an area of approximately 4,600 km2 with water depths less than 500 m. They are adjacent to Chariot’s Rabat Deep Offshore Exploration Permits on which Chariot recently announced success in partnering.
The Mohammedia area contains a number of proven and potential play systems. Chariot had acquired approximately 375 km2 of 3D seismic data in 2014 in the precursor Mohammedia Reconnaissance license from which the company identified prospects in the Eo-Oligocene (EOP-1 & 2), Lower Cretaceous (LKP-1a,1b,2a,&2b) and the Jurassic (JP-2) with gross mean prospective resources for individual prospects ranging from 50 MMbbl to 289 MMbbl as audited by Netherland Sewell and Associates Inc.
The Jurassic carbonate shelf-edge system that makes up the JP-1 prospect in the neighboring Rabat Deep license has been interpreted to lie along the western margin of the Mohammedia permits. This carbonate shelf-edge appears to act as a structural control on the overlying Early Cretaceous shelf margin with the LKP prospects resulting from the deposition of interpreted shallow-water deltaic clastics.
Both the Eo-Oligocene and Lower Cretaceous prospects have seismic attributes that could be indicative of hydrocarbons. Chariot has committed to the acquisition of 250 km2 of 3D seismic data, which will be acquired where the LKP prospects extend outside the current 3D seismic data.
The bulk of the Mohammedia area currently has little seismic coverage. Chariot has also committed to acquire a minimum of 2,000 km of 2D seismic over the rest of the license to identify the nature and extent of the play systems in this underexplored region. Both of these 2D and 3D seismic programs are likely to be acquired in 2017.
"Chariot is pleased to be able to convert the Mohammedia Reconnaissance licence into exploration permits as a result of the technical de-risking gained from our 2014 3D seismic campaign in Morocco,” Larry Bottomley, Chariot’s CEO, said. "The company intends to mature the prospectivity in the Mohammedia permits through the acquisition of additional seismic programs. We also have the potential to realize additional de-risking of the petroleum system from the drilling of the JP-1 prospect in the neighboring Rabat Deep permits. Chariot has previously announced partnering on Rabat Deep in which the company will retain 10% equity for a carry in JP-1 to a cap in excess of expected well cost which we anticipate to occur in 2017.”
