additional oil exploration licence

ADDITIONAL OIL EXPLORATION LICENCE IN THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM
Swala Energy Limited (ASX:SWE) (“Swala”), the oil and gas explorer with assets along the East African Rift System, is pleased to announce that it has been invited into exclusive negotiations with the Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) for the award of a 32.5% interest in the Eyasi licence, onshore Northern Tanzania. If the interest in the Eyasi licence is awarded then Swala will become the operator of the license.
Reviews of vintage gravity and magnetic data, together with surface geology investigations undertaken by Swala suggest that the Eyasi licence area may contain 4 separate basins with potential sediment thicknesses of around 3,000m (Figure 2). Each of these basins has an area of approximately 2,000 km², and has the potential to provide the source materials for hydrocarbon generation.
Swala believes the Eyasi licence to be a highly prospective area located on the southern extreme of the eastern branch of the East African Rift System (EARS) (Figure 1). The western branch of the EARS has already proven to be a major oil province with around 2 billion barrels of discovered oil in Lake Albert in Uganda. More recently the eastern branch has seen a number of oil discoveries announced in northern Kenya in the Lokichar basin where Tullow Oil (TLW: LSE) and Africa Oil (TSX.V:AOI) have recently been so successful with the Twiga South-1 and Ngamia-1 wells. These wells have now proven that prospective hydrocarbon basins lie within the eastern branch of the EARS. The Lokichar basin is around half the size of each of Swala’s four separate basins in Eyasi.
With the award of this licence, Swala continues to develop its significant regional presence and now has some 21,000 km² under licence along the EARS.
Dr. David Mestres Ridge, Swala’s CEO said “We are delighted to have been invited to undertake exclusive negotiations to secure the Eyasi licence. Swala has been working diligently to obtain this highly sought-after licence area. We regard this as proof that Swala’s technical and operational capabilities are seen as credible by both established companies and national regulators, and provides further validation of our early decision to expand in East and Central Africa.”