Oil & Gas Corporate News
Circle Oil (LON:COP) (BUY, £0.90) (COP, 30.75p, ? (5.02%)) announced that following improvements in ground conditions in parts of the Rharb Basin the fifth and final well in the current drilling campaign has been spudded. The well designated KSR-11 is targeting the Hoot formation at an estimated depth of 1,750 metres. The target is similar to those previously proven successful in KSR-8 and KSR-10. It is presently anticipated that the drilling, logging, and if successful, testing of the well will take approximately 5-6 weeks to complete. The Sebou permit lies to the north-east of Rabat in the Rharb Basin in Morocco. The Rharb Basin is a foredeep basin located in the external zone of the Rif Folded belt. The concession agreement, in which Circle has a 75% share and ONHYM, the Moroccan State oil company, has a 25% share, includes the right of conversion to a production licence of 25 years, plus extensions in the event of commercial discoveries.
Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) (TLW, 1349p, ? (1.53%)) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Uganda (GoU). This agreement satisfies the GoU's taxation concerns and enables Tullow, CNOOC and Total to proceed with the basin-wide development with the full support and commitment of the GoU. The MoU provides a process which the GoU and Tullow expect will result in the resolution of the impasse created by the Heritage and Tullow tax situations; the development of the Kingfisher field; the grant of extension in respect of Exploration Area 1 and parts of 3A, in recognition of the fact that time has been lost; and GoU consent being granted for Tullow's purchase of Heritage's interests in the Lake Albert Basin and the subsequent farmdowns to CNOOC and Total. The MoU is conditional upon the signing of Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPAs) between Tullow, CNOOC and Total within 10 working days of signature of the MoU. Tullow expects that the SPAs will be signed within the specified period. GoU and Tullow expect to make further details of the MoU and SPAs available after the SPAs have been signed. Tullow considers the signing of the MoU to be a huge achievement and looks forward to working closely with the GoU over the coming years, in conjunction with CNOOC and Total, in developing the Ugandan oil and…
