ok, as a hit from this report the following pages of 20-23..
"· In addition, discussions are underway with Caspian Oil and Gas for the use of their 850HP rig in a potential shallow drilling program of 2-3 wells in the Soh and Tuzluk licenses."
As a note for those that are interested you should have a look at their team :
http://www.manaspetroleum.com/s/Team.asp
The following is the take on their Kyrgz operations..
Kyrgyz Republic
We have a 25% interest in South Petroleum JSC, which has five licenses in Kyrgyz Republic that cover a total area of approximately 569,578 acres (or approximately 2,305 km2). We previously sold a 70% interest in South Petroleum JSC to Santos International Holding Pty Ltd. (Santos). As part of this sale, Santos agreed to undertake a work program on these licenses in two phases, the first of which has already begun.
While we will not have to provide funds for any costs for this first phase of this work program, we also do not anticipate that this program will generate any revenues in the next twelve months.
Seismic operations began on September 30, 2007 in the western part of Batken oblast. By the end of the year 89.4 km had been acquired in the Tuzluk license. Towards the end of the year, severe winter weather had begun to hamper operations. This severe weather continued throughout January and into February and had a substantial impact on seismic operations. By March, weather conditions had improved and a total of 64.3 km was acquired in March in SPC acreage compared to 30.3km in January (7.8km)and February( 22.5km) combined. An increase in the capacity of the seismic crew has been achieved through the addition of a drilling team from SNG (Tajikistan). Discussions are underway to add a vibrator crew to further increase the capacity of the crew.
During March, a Management team, including Trevor Brown, Vice president Geoscience and New Ventures, visited the seismiccrew and met with officials from the Geology Ministry, regional authorities and Kyrgyzneftigas.
The following activities have progressed:
· Preliminary interpretation of the new seismic data has been initiated in the Adelaide office.
· In addition to the seismic program several initiatives have been undertaken in relation to the seismic program. These include data exchange agreements with neighboring licenses and the provision of funds to SNG (seismic contractors) for crew upgrades.
· The project team in Adelaide has been primarily engaged in technical review work to define prospects and leads.
· Consolidation of the database has been undertaken with data acquired in Bishkek transferred to the database in Adelaide. Reprocessing and scanning of Soviet era seismic data and digitizing of well logs have continued.
· The office in Bishkek has been involved in general office administration and management, building relationships with industry and government and resolving various local taxation issues.
Since January 1, 2008, the following developments have taken place in connection with South Petroleum’s operations in the Kyrgyz Republic:
· Seismic operations were initiated on September 30, 2007. The seismic crew base is located in the village of Arka, near the Tajikistan border. The crew is engaged in acquiring seismic over the Sulukta (Textonic) and Tuzluk (SPC) licenses. A total of 414 km was planned for the Tuzluk license.
· Initial parameter testing was carried out and the subsequent parameters adapted were agreed to correspond to a $/km rate of US$6,970/km (VAT not included).
· During October to December 2007, 89.4 km were acquired in the Tuzluk license on seismic lines 16, 17, 25, 9, 30 and 31. During the months of January, February and March 2008 94.6kms were acquired on seismic lines 8,10,11,12,13,14,15,18,19,
Field stacks indicated moderate data quality . Full processing trials are underway in Australia.
· No safety incidents were recorded. Land access has proceeded smoothly.
· A small community project was undertaken to provide equipment and materials for an upgrade to the local Arka school gymnasium. This has been completed and has helped to cement relationships with the local community.
· Planning for drilling is ongoing with the appointment of a Drilling Manager, Alistair Chomley, to the SPC Bishkek Office. A Drilling HSE Manager has also been appointed to the SPC office together with support staff.
· Work has been underway to assess rig availability, infrastructure, import and transport routes, import procedures,national and local planning, and contractual requirements and preliminary location and access scouting.
Manufacture of four sets of wellheads (US$ 112,000), liner hangers (US$140,000) and the purchase of casing strings for two deep generic wells (US$5,404,000), currently scheduled as tests in the Tuzluk and Soh permits. Well design has been based on a Tuzluk South Lead preliminary prognosis (PTD 4200m RGL).
· In addition, discussions are underway with Caspian Oil and Gas for the use of their 850HP rig in a potential shallow drilling program of 2-3 wells in the Soh and Tuzluk licenses.
· The present seismic acquisition rates consistently suggest the likely commencement of a deep drilling program will not occur until the seond quarter of 2009. Commencement of a shallow program may occur during thethe third quarter of 2008.
The following is a summary of the Adelaide Office activities in the first quarter of 2008:
Database · On-going database assembly with: o Digitization of well wire line log data, o Rectification of scanned maps, o Field GPS quality control of well head locations, and incorporation into Santos mapping and seismic interpretation packages continued (DBMap and Geoframe), o Capture of relevant information from Soviet reports, o Wireline log and seismic data loaded into Geoframe master interpretation project and o Formation tops data continued to be assembled and bulk loaded into Geoframe interpretation package. Seismic Reprocessing, Scanning & Acquisition · Seismic reprocessing project is complete. · Scanning seismic project by SNG is completed. · All original hardcopy seismic were scanned in Australia by contractor New Wave to provide a further dataset, which is being utilized as a final quality check against the reprocessed and SNG scanning. This data set was found to be more workable and has been used for current mapping. · Geophysical interpretation of digital seismic is proceeding. Seismic Interpretation & Mapping · Seismic interpretation and mapping continued in each of the Tuzluk, Soh, West Soh, and Nanai permits. · Mapping has been incorporated into plans for proposed new seismic acquisition, with minor adjustments being made to the location of lines in the 2D acquisition grid. Geological & Geophysical work · Rock sample petrography and geochemistry reports completed. · Regional structural framework and tectonic history models based on surface geology, seismic, and literature review collated and presented for peer feedback at internal Santos Geoscience Forum. · Integration of well velocity data and wireline log data into seismic interpretation project · Geological well to well correlations (ongoing) · Multiple core samples from the Palaeozoic, Palaeogene and Neogene were taken from selected well locations for maturation studies (conducted by Alan Cook at Keiraville Konsultants in Australia) and visual kerogen assessments (Santos in-house evaluation). This work is being utilized to constrain thermal and burial history modeling being conducted along the southern flank of the basin. · Tuzluk and Soh prospects and leads have been prepared for Santos internal review and audit during the first quarter of 2008, with a view to populating the drilling inventory.
The following is a summary of the Bishkek Office activities in the first quarter of 2008:
· A presentation was made to the State Agency of Geology (New Director) outlining the progress made in relation to seismic acquisition during the visit of Santos management in March. · Discussions with the State Agency and others concerning the new Sub Soil laws and the proposed imposition of license fees continued and representations made through the IBC (International Business Council). These discussions are ongoing at the present time. · A Drilling Planning Manager has been appointed and support staff have been employed. · General license administration and reporting continued during the quarter. · Digitizing of electric logs and maps continued during the period. · Undertook a review of available drilling equipment and contractors in the Kyrgyzstan area and supported preliminary investigations into the in-country requirements for a drilling operation. · Continued to build in-country relationships with industry and government.
MHL Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held