Taken from todays ASX notices......... Thats what we want to see movements before the listing date.
Right to explore for Oil & Gas south & east of Falklands
Document date: Mon 08 Jul 2002 Published: Mon 08 Jul 2002 09:11:55 Document No: 219176 Document part: A Market Flag: N Classification: Other GLOBAL PETROLEUM LIMITED 2002-07-08 ASX-SIGNAL-G
HOMEX - Perth
+++++++++++++++++++++++++ A consortium dominated by Australian companies has become the first in the world to win the right to explore offshore for oil and gas south and east of the Falkland Islands.
The 'Falkland Islands Hydrocarbon Consortium' today announced that it had been awarded 10 adjoining offshore exploration licences in the region, covering an area of 57,700 square kilometres.
This is four times larger than the offshore petroleum acreage currently under licence to the north of the Falkland Islands.
Australian participation in the consortium includes recently restructured Global Petroleum Limited which has a 50% interest and the listed Hardman Resources NL petroleum group with a 30% stake.
Global is currently undertaking a $15 million capital raising - the largest in Australia's petroleum sector this year - and plans to seek approval to relist on the Australian Stock Exchange in mid-August.
As well as the new Falkland Islands interests, Brisbane-based Global already owns a suite of international oil and gas properties in Kenya, Montenegro, Fiji and Jordan.
Hardman has producing gas interests in Western Australia and is in joint venture with Woodside Pty Ltd on a major new oil province offshore Mauritania in West Africa.
Joining Hardman and Global in the consortium with a 20% interest is the Islands' main infrastructure and commercial entity, the Falkland Islands Company.
"The southern Falklands Islands province is one of the last international frontiers for new petroleum exploration and the licences offered are on favourable industry terms," Global's Executive Chairman, Dr John Armstrong, said today.
STRATEGIC ASSET GROWTH
"As the international oil and gas industry is now much less limited by location and water depth, the securing of this frontier province by Global is an important step in continuing to build our worldwide suite of petroleum exploration assets," he said.
"In exploring our new licence areas, the consortium will be targeting reservoirs similar to those that exist to the west in Argentine waters in the Malvinas and Magallanes Basins.
"A 1981 Exxon well drilled in the Argentine waters recorded a flow test of 3,000 barrels of oil per day, proving the existence of a nearby working petroleum system.
"The Southern and Eastern petroleum areas are quite different petroleum geology from the North Falklands Basin and are within a far larger unexplored basin.
GLOBAL AS OPERATOR
Global will act as operator for the consortium with initial work involving the reprocessing of existing seismic data and interpretation, followed by new seismic surveys to detail the province's hydrocarbon system and to identify prospects.
Dr Armstrong said the awarding of the licences had culminated a five-year campaign by the consortium to secure access rights to these highly prospective blocks, including having a company representative resident in the Falklands for two years.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact
Dr John Armstrong John Field/Kevin Skinner Global Petroleum Limited Field Business Services (07) 3211 1122 0408 824 370 (08) 8232 1355 0418 819 527/0414 822 631
