London-listed Atlantic margin explorer Chariot Oil & Gas Atlantic is seeking a new partner of its Rabat Deep permit offshore Morocco after 25% equity holder Woodside elected not to take an option to take over operatorship and fund a well on the license.
Had Australia-based Woodside taken the option, it would have earned an additional 25% equity in the Central Atlantic passive margin block, operated by Chariot, which now retains its 50% interest. The Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines holds the remaining 25%.
Chariot's main focus on its Rabat Deep permit, covering 10.782sq km in 145m-3815m water depth, is the JP-1 prospect, containing 618 MMbbls of gross mean prospective resources as estimated by Netherland Sewell and Associates on the 2D seismic data.
Chariot says a a dataroom for Rabat Deep will open in due course and, subject to securing a partner, drilling of this prospect is now anticipated to occur in late 2016/2017.
On the firm's Loukos and Mohammedia permits, also offshore Morocco, the firm says it has identified several material prospects, including the JP-2 prospect in the Jurassic play, following the interpretation of the pre-stack time migrated 3D data acquired in a 2014 seismic campaign. Further oil-prone prospectivity has also been identified within the Neogene.
Chariot will now also seek partners these licenses to either participate in the drilling of the prospects already located, or to further the 3D seismic campaign across the permits.
An independent audit of the prospective resources associated with the 1700sq km 3D seismic campaign on these permits will also be carried out once Chariot has completed its internal evaluation of the pre-stack depth migrated data.
Larry Bottomley, Chief Executive of Chariot, said: "It is disappointing that Woodside has not exercised its option, but we remain optimistic regarding the potential of the Rabat Deep permits and particularly that offered by the JP-1 prospect.
"These are challenging times for oil and gas companies and investment decisions are being affected as a result. As mentioned previously, partnering is tougher, but we also believe that this climate can be an opportunity for those who are looking to take advantage of high potential assets, such as those within our portfolio. Whilst the nature of the market is cyclical, the prospectivity that we see within our licenses remains transformational and Chariot's strong cash position will enable us to take advantage of opportunities to further enhance our asset base. We look forward to continuing to work with Woodside and ONHYM on the development of the Rabat Deep permits."
According to Chariot, the Atlantic margin geology is superimposed upon pre-existing Palaeozoic basins which are prolific hydrocarbon producers to the east in Algeria and which are proven effective in parts of Morocco
Offshore Morocco is underexplored in terms of drilling with only 34 wells having been drilled since 1968, 29 of which were drilled prior to 2003. These were primarily aimed at testing Jurassic carbonate objectives on the shelf.
Chariot's evaluation of the 3D data shows that the JP-1 structure contains a probable Jurassic shelf edge section with pronounced build up geometries believed to be reefs, with the inversion data supporting the potential for reservoir development. The Jurassic play is proven in Morocco with the Cap Juby heavy oil discovery, it says, with legacy onshore light oil production adjacent to Chariot’s acreage and a recent well drilled in this play offshore encountered 26° API oil.
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