tap oil extends elephant hunt

Tap Oil extends elephant hunt in highly prospective petroleum province offshore Ghana
Saturday, May 12, 2012 by Bevis Yeo Tap Oil (ASX: TAP) has been granted more time to chase large, half a billion barrel prospects, offshore Ghana after receiving a 12 month extension to its Offshore Accra Contract Area.

The initial exploration period under the petroleum agreement for the permit will now end on 23 September 2013.

While Tap and its partners are required to drill a commitment well before the end of this period, the company has previously said that the first well is expected to spud sometime in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

The 2000 square kilometre Offshore Accra Contract Area contains a number of multiple large prospects within both the post-rift Upper Cretaceous fan sands similar to the giant Jubilee oil discovery that was made in 2007 as well as pre-rift Lower Cretaceous rotated fault blocks that are of the same play type as the Espoir and Baobab oil fields.

Besides its proximity to large discoveries such as Jubilee, Tweneboa,Odum, Owo, Teak, Akasa, Dzata, Sankofa, Gye Nyame and Paradise, the permit also enjoys a predictable operating environment with access to seismic vessels, drilling rigs and services.

Tao is currently interpreting 3D seismic that it shot early last year as well as continuing the farm out process to manage risk.