ebr 12 mil barrels oil cooper

For interest of EBR fans. I posted this on the ADX board but it is also quite interesting in relation to EBR.The dates are a little out but the future looks exciting. I particularly like the bit:

“This is a pretty good permit. Eric Tucker is really buoyant, and we’ll be really surprised if we don’t hit something,” Roper said. “If AuDAX ends up with a share of 12 million barrels, which is within the realms of possibility.."

O I L & G A S G A Z E T T E MAY 2 0 0 5

For the past 15 years AuDAX Resources Ltd has been known as a would-be hard rock miner, engaged in a drawn-out legal tussle with wealthy prospector Mark Creasy over ownership of the promising Bronzewing South project. In theory there was a very good chance the mineralisation from the Bronzewing mine extended into the Bronzewing South tenements. While AuDAX had a win in the courts in
2002, the ground failed to hold up its end of the bargain, and it soon became clear to managing director Gary Roper that AuDAX needed something new to reward its long-suffering shareholders. “We’ve spent years looking for gold and precious metals, and we’ve spent years in the courts, and then put millions into the ground for little return,” Roper said. “To be honest, we thought Bronzewing South was going to be the be-all-and end- all, and we weren’t out there picking up a lot of extra ground, so we got caught a little bit short when Bronzewing South didn’t measure up. “One of the reasons we got into oil and gas was because we looked at about 30 hard rock opportunities, and we realized gold tenements at Millrose there was just nothing being offered that was better than what we’ve already got.”
And, just when it looked like AuDAX was running out of options, Roper, fellow director Leith Beal and a few friends ended up on an annual fishing trip with Eagle Bay Resource NL’s Tony Rechner. Talk soon turned to Bronzewing South which had become a bit of an albatross around AuDAX’s neck. “I think we’ve done enough work to establish there’s no oxide resource there,” Roper said. “No decent ground was available for pegging and
one day we were discussing our predicament with Tony Rechner who told us about
this ‘really good permit’ in South Australia he was bidding on.” Eagle Bay won PEL 182,
so AuDAX opened its chequebook and entered the oil and gas business.
While Roper admits AuDAX agreed to pay a premium to farmin, about $4.5 million linked to an initial three holes for a 49.9% share, it still seems like a good deal. The company has since reduced its equity to 39.9%, and will pay substantially less for its share.
PEL 182 covers an area of 1,745 sq km some 80km north of processing facilities
at Moomba. “There is a huge success rate in the Cooper Basin at present, and this permit comes with all Santos’ 2D seismic, which is worth about $20 million in today’s
money, and there are producing fields nearby,” Roper said. Independent consultants have reviewed the data and confirmed the prospectivity of PEL 182, defining at least three major targets and 11 small to medium sized targets. The major oil targets have potential reserves of between five and 12.5 million barrels. Seismic data has been re-interpreted by Eabgle Bay’s Ian Barr and independent consultant Eric Tucker, who have
concluded that there are couple of serious targets that are ready to drill.
“This is a pretty good permit. Eric Tucker is really buoyant, and we’ll be really surprised if we don’t hit something,” Roper said. “If AuDAX ends up with a share of 12 million barrels, which is within the realms of possibility, it’ll be great for the company - and running the odds if we do get a hit, it can be put it into production
quickly.” To facilitate drilling in what was an increasingly tight drilling market, Eagle
Bay and AuDAX have completed a deal with Don Schofield’s White Sands
Petroleum Pty Ltd, which has imported a new state-of-the-art drill rig and an
experienced drilling crew into Australia. White Sands needed US$1 million seed
money, which AuDAX put up to bring the rig into Australia, and in return White Sands can earn 10% of the permit by drilling five holes into the permit and
by paying 20% of the costs. White Sands will repay the loan as each
hole is drilled by crediting AuDAX with US$250,000 per hole. “Really, we’ve got a good deal in the right part of the world, and it’s something that will give the market a
new focus that doesn’t revolve around Bronzewing South”. White Sands will work-over Conloi-1 oil well in the Surat Basin for Bow Energy Ltd, and will be required to drill at least one other well, probably at Bounty Oil & Gas NL’s Utopia field to shakedown the EDM 4000m rig, by which time EBR and AuDAX expect to have completed final native title documentation. “We’ve already marked out four sites, which we intend to drill immediately once Native Title negotiations and the rig are in place. So at the end of the day if it goes ahead what may have initially appeared a tough deal works out fair for
all concerned,” Roper said. It is hoped the White Sands rig will be on site and ready to drill five wells from June. Roper said AuDAX was starting to look at other hydrocarbon projects, but for the moment it was focused on getting value from the Cooper Basin assets. AuDAX has about $4.1 million in the bank plus the funds advanced to White
Sands. “This is a really positive play for shareholders. The location is fantastic
and supporting technical data and recent successes by other companies in
similar positions within the basin are very encouraging”.
Cheers Fc
I dont hold ADX but have EBR