Offshore staff
LONDON – Sterling Energy (AIM: SEY) has agreed to acquire a 13.5% interest from operator Tullow Energy in the block C-10 concession offshore Mauritania.
Completion of the transaction remains subject to government approval.
The production-sharing contract for C-10 is in the second phase of the exploration period. The 10,725-sq km (4,141-sq mi) block, in water depths of 50-2,400 m (164-7,874 ft), surrounds the producing Chinguetti field.
It has full 3D seismic coverage and is within a proven petroleum basin, with play types ranging from the under-explored Jurassic and lower Cretaceous carbonates to Cretaceous and Tertiary clastic plays.
Sterling says one aim is to investigate the potential for an extension of the Cenomanian and Albian plays recently established byKosmos’ Tortue-1 gas discovery in offshore block C-8.
Tullow has singled out a Neocomian carbonate prospect in around 100 m (328 ft) of water.
The partners expect to drill the concession’s obligatory exploration well during 2016, at a cost of around at $77 million. Should the partners elect to enter into Phase 3, the minimum work obligation would be two wells.
06/03/2015
