Tangiers Petroleum (LON:TPET) the dual listed (ASX:TPT/AIM:TPET) oil and gas exploration company led by new Executive Chairman Eve Howell has recently announced a proposed capital raising of up to $5.8 million through a share placement and share purchase plan to launch the first steps of its growth strategy. Tangiers Petroleum shares have been trading on the alternative investment market since February 2012 and is focused on unlocking oil and gas resources within its Moroccan and Australian acreage and attracting new project acquisitions through evaluating new onshore and shallow water African basin opportunities. [1] . Ms Eve Howell, with 40 year experience in the industry and having previously held senior roles for Australian exploration and production company Woodside Energy Ltd and Apache Energy Ltd, will spearhead the new aggressive growth strategy for Tangiers Petroleum with the aim of developing the Company into a substantial African petroleum group.
Commenting on the fundraising, Eve Howell, the Company's new Executive Chairman noted that: [2]
"This raising will enable us to hit the ground running,"
"We see the support shown for this capital raising and the investment by new institutional and existing shareholders as a strong endorsement of the strategy the new Board has undertaken and positions us strongly to fulfil our growth objectives. There are significant opportunities in Africa for Tangiers to acquire interests in exploration and development projects.
"As part of our strategy, we are looking for deals which have the potential to generate substantial returns for shareholders."
In Morocco, Tangiers hold eight permits on a 75% operator interest alongside the Moroccan State Government who are on a 25% carry through exploration, covering 15,041 km2. The acreage located on the East Atlantic Margin offshore North West Morocco is an underexplored are with only 4 wells previously drilled on the acreage, three of those back in the 1960s and 1 commitment well in the mid-eighties, however all 4 wells had hydrocarbon shows. In an independent report prepared by Netherland, Sewell and Associates which focused on Tangiers’ initial four Jurassic aged prospects; La Dam, Assaka, Trident and TMA. an un-risked best estimate prospective resource of 867 mmbbls of oil on a 100% basis with a high case estimate potential resource of 4,959 mmbbls of oil for the four prospects combined was reported. [3]
Tangiers now expect to complete the process to find a farm-out partner for the Tarfaya offshore acreage and report their findings following a recent 3D seismic data acquisition, ahead of planning a 2 well campaign. The area is generating interest, and in recent weeks a couple of high profile deals have been announced covering two licenses to the North and North-East of Tangiers' Tarfaya block. The combined deals were worth over $100 million dollars and commit the farm-in partners Genel Energy (LON:GENL) and Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) to drill two wells in the area. Other London listed O&G companies with exposure to Morocco include, Fastnet Oil & Gas (LON:FAST), Serica Energy (LON:SQZ) and San Leon Energy (LON:SLE).
Commenting on the news, City house broker Old Park Lane, who have a target price of 150p for Tangiers Petroleum stated: [4]
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"The recent news flow from Morocco is a very positive indicator for Tangiers as it demonstrates the value currently represented by the offshore acreage,"
"Given that Tarfaya is larger than Foum Draa and Sidi Moussa combined with four large prospects already identified on the block, we believe that Tarfaya is likely to attract a significant amount of attention from potential farm-inees over the coming months."
In Australia Tangiers operates licenses on a 90-100% interest, which are located in the Southern Bonaparte Basin offshore, around 250km southwest of Darwin where the Northern Australia gas and LNG hub is based. One of its key Australian plays is the Turtle and Barnet oil fields which had oil discoveries in the mid-eighties where multiple oil bearing reservoirs were intersected, with production figures of 750-930 bopd (38 degree API) on a drill stem test, Tangiers are now considering development concepts for this area. Other key licenses include the Milligans Fan which has the potential for oil, with ISIS estimating unrisked oil in place of 683 mmbbls with a low to high case of 118 – 1,489 mmbbls, and the Nova and Super Nova which has large gas structures with multi TCF potential. The work programme for the Australian assets include, mapping, seismic studies, well planning and farming-out interest with ISIS Petroleum appointed for this task. [5]
With new management at the helm and funds at hand things could progress a bit quicker now for Tangiers Petroleum who definitely have the big numbers to warrant a place on the research and watch list in my opinion.
Ticker code: TPET, Shares in issue: 107m Current SP: 19.75p Market Cap: £21.13m
Disclosure: The Author of this article holds shares in Tangiers Petroleum.
[2] RNS 24 September 2012, TANGIERS PETROLEUM LIMITED http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20120924070000P2449
[3] TPET Presentation 24 Sept 2012, http://clients2.weblink.com.au/clients/tangierspetroleum/article.asp?asx=TPT&view=6605104
[4] Tangiers Petroleum: Recent Morocco news flow "very positive", says broker, 28 August 2012 - Proactive Investors, http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/47383/tangiers-petroleum-recent-morocco-news-flow-very-positive-says-broker--47383.html
[5] OPLC, Milligans Formation valuation upside, April 2012, http://tangierspetroleum.com/~/media/Files/T/Tangiers-Petroleum/Attachments/broker-analyst-reports/TPET-03-04-12.pdf
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Tangiers Petroleum Limited is an Australia-based. The Company is engaged in oil and gas exploration and the continued review of opportunities available to the Company. The Company’s project ATP-587-P is located in onshore Queensland. The permit consists of 12 graticular blocks comprising an area of approximately 946 square kilometers. The Tarfaya Block, offshore Morocco includes eight permits covering 15,041 square kilometers and is situated approximately 600 kilometers southwest of Morocco’s capital Rabat, inshore from the Canary Islands on Morocco’s Atlantic Margin. In January 2012, the Company acquired 670 square kilometer Three Dimensional (3D) seismic survey over primary prospects Trident, TMA, and Assaka. more »
Cairn Energy PLC (Cairn) is an independent oil and gas exploration and development company. The Company’s operations are organised based on geographical regions. Its geographical segments include North West Europe North Sea, Atlantic Margin Greenland, Atlantic Margin Morocco and the Mediterranean. The Cairn Energy Group’s operations focuses on new exploration activities in Greenland and the Mediterranean. more »
San Leon Energy plc is engaged in the exploration and production of oil and gas. In Poland, it has interest in Baltic Basin, SW Carboniferous Basin, and Permian Basin. In Ireland, the Company has interest in eight offshore Ireland assets, consisting four operated licenses on the Atlantic Margin and four Celtic Sea assets. San Leon has interests in the Tarfaya and Zag license areas and two offshore licenses: Foum Draa and Sidi Moussa. In Spain, the Company has interest in Cantabrian/Pyrenees Basin and Ebro Basin. The Company holds a 100% participating interest in the Durresi Block, offshore Albania. The license area covers 4,200 square kilometers. The Company owns five permits in Italy. Two in the Po Valley and three offshore Sicily. In Germany, it has interest in Aschen Concession in the Lower Saxon Basin. On November 10, 2011, the Company acquired Realm Energy International Corporation. more »
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An interesting development regarding Tangiers has been the recent announcement that a number of third parties have suggested terms through Macquarie for which they would be looking to enter into a farmout agreement covering the Morocco project. Tangiers stance on the third party offers to date is, not as they stand, let’s negotiate!
Macquarie Capital Europe Ltd in the UK and ISIS Petroleum Consultants in Australia are assisting TPET it in farming out its projects in Morocco and Australia. The Company stated on the 26 September:
http://clients2.weblink.com.au/clients/tangierspetroleum/article.asp?asx=TPT&view=6605603