Not sure if this was posted before, but anyway. Certainly shows they how they are positioning the whole "tanzania owned" thing over there, which hopefully puts them in good position to secure further licences.
The just listed oil and gas exploration firm Swala Oil and Gas Tanzania Limited (SOGTP) has reaffirmed its plans to conduct two major seismic surveys this weekend and expressed confidence as well as optimism in the initiative saying it plans to drill at least one well in each block.
The 40 percent locally owned SOGTP said both surveys will be done by year’s end and it will begin exploration works first in its Pangani licenced block, some 17,156km2 of area in the Pangani Rift that is part of the East African Rift System (EARS).
After, Pangani, SOGTP, which has the highest local ownership in an industry dominated by foreign companies, will conduct surveys in its Kilosa-Kilombero block that covers a net area of 17,675km2, also in the EARS.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian at the weekend, SOGTP Chief Executive Officer Dr David Mestres Ridge said the explorations are to start soon and that they are confident and optimistic of positive feedbacks.
“Having listed our shares as part of our mission to empower local participation in the industry, our next focus is completion of the seismic programme in our Pangani and Kilosa-Kilombero licences, which is going to run between now and the end of the year,” he said.
“Our aim this year is to continue to add value to the company and its shareholders by identifying a complete portfolio of leads and prospects in these two licences, from which we can determine targets for drilling,” he reassured stakeholders.
“The first thing we did was to carry out regional seismic surveys to determine the characteristics of the basins,’ Dr Ridge explained.
“Now we are focusing more on the areas the first survey gave compelling evidence of the presence of oil in the rock structures … we have identified a number of structures already and it is these that have given us the confidence to continue to explore in these areas,” he went on to say.
“The company is committed to drill at least one well in each of the two licenced areas … the cost of each is still being reviewed but after these two, we expect to be drilling more wells,” the CEO detailed, citing promising results in similar works in northern Kenya.
Commenting on the DSE listing, Dr Ridge said Swala oil and gas distinguishes itself from other oil and gas firms operating in Tanzania by placing special focus on public involvement.
“We are the only listed oil and gas company in Tanzania,” he said explaining that through share purchase on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, Tanzanians can directly participate in the exploration and future activities of the company.
The listing comes after its recent successful Initial Public Offer (IPO) that was oversubscribed attracting wananchi in the country and the Diaspora compelling the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) to employ the green shoe option principle to allow the oil firm to rake in the oversubscribed money.
The IPO was expected to raise 4.8bn/- it brought in at least 6.65bn/- with a total of 13.3 million shares issued instead of the planned 9.6 million.
“The IPO funds are going to finance the seismic programmes,” Dr Ridge noted saying this shows there is direct participation of investors and in this case, most are Tanzanians.
“We are 40 per cent owned by Tanzanians,” Dr Ridge went on to say pointing out that the initiative supports the government call for more public involvement.
“We are the only one with a trust model to benefit locals … the only one with a Tanzanian board and management,” he added.
‘The listing is important not only for us but, at a number of different levels, for others too. It will be interesting to see whether our listing encourages more activity on the exchange,” the CEO said.
Geologically, rift systems are highly prospective for oil because of their high-quality source rocks which are often deposited within rift valley lakes.
These sedimentary rocks have very high total organic contents and are capable of generating vast quantities of hydrocarbons, particularly oil.
To date, over two billion barrels of oil have been discovered in the Albertine Graben of Uganda. More recently, there have been oil discoveries in the Ngamia -1 and Twiga-1 wells in Kenya.
These discoveries have provided compelling evidence that the presence of oil in the rift systems is geographically more extensive than previously thought.
SWE Price at posting:
24.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
