significance of shell agreement, page-10

Botchee...I'd be dissapointed if ME has not been keeping in touch with other interested parties over the last three months. At present it's not all about oil in Senegal for ME, it's about marketing the potential & closing a deal before FAR's licences expire. I could not imagine he does not have a Plan B with potential back up partners at this time, ready to step in and fill the void if Shell opt out. Just on that given Rocksources positive CSEM result on the neighbouring block they are also a possible contenders. (see article below)

As for Shell taking up the option, the agreed time for them to announce their decision is 90 days, so while I'm as confident as everyone one else, IMO this decision can still go either way. A lot of posters place a lot of emphasis on the hard info the charts provide in forecasting future SP, but the bottom line is we won't know what Shell is doing until ME has that executed option agreement in his hot little hand.


Rocksource ready to roll off Senegal

Published 20.07.2009 13:16:40 by John BradburyNorway's Rocksource has signalled that it is prepared to start on a second phase of exploration offshore West Africa in partnership with Ophir Energy which will involve targeting the Cheval North prospect off Senegal.

Rocksource signalled today that it has agreed to move into a second exploration phase on its AGR Profond permit area off Senegal where it will drill one deepwater exploration with Ophir on Cheval North which is estimated to contain around 429 m boe of reserves based on controlled source electromagnetic and other survey data. Chances of success on Cheval North are put as high as 50%.

“The Cheval North prospect is a very valuable addition to our existing low risk, high potential portfolio,” declared Rocksource chief executive Trygve Pedersen, adding: “We have the opportunity to test a world class CSEM positive prospect in 2010 and have significant follow up potential if the initial well proves successful.”

Rocksource gained access to the Sénégal/Guinéa Bissau Common (AGC) Profond permit area through a staged farm-in deal with Ophir in September 2008. Under the farm-in terms, Rocksource gains up to 25% equity in the area, conditional on funding a second exploration well.

Costs of the first well – which will give Rocksource an initial 15% equity stake in the AGC area – are put at US $12.5 m to Rocksource.

Further potential has been identified in the area, with a total reserves base estimated at up to 1.7 Bn boe, based on 16 mapped prospects, and four prospects, evaluated with CSEM data, have been allocated an unrisked resource totalling 1.1 Bn boe.

African-owned Ophir has previously put agreements in place to use up to three drilling rigs, the West Polaris, the Deep Venture, and the West Aquarius for drilling, in 2010.

AGC was originally two blocks, Cheval Marin and Croix du Sud, and the area overs 9,838 sq. km (3,800 sq. miles). It is jointly administered by Guinea-Bissau and Senegal,, with water depths from 50 to 3,500 m (164 – 11,500 ft).