PetroNeft Resources (PetroNeft), an owner and operator of licenses 61 and 67, Tomsk Oblast, Russian federation, has revealed that Arawak Energy (Arawak) has exercised its option to acquire a 50% interest in the Ledovy license (license 67).
In December 2009, PetroNeft revealed that it had been successful in the state auction for the Ledovy licence in the Tomsk Oblast. Under a 2008 Area of Mutual Interest Agreement (AMI), Arawak is entitled to participate in up to a 50% interest in the licence. Following technical and commercial review, Arawak has elected to acquire its full 50% entitlement, subject to the completion of a mutually agreeable contract under the terms of the AMI.
PetroNeft will remain as operator of the Ledovy license and all costs and future income will be shared on a 50:50 basis. The Ledovy license area is located west of the Ob river in the main oil bearing part of the Tomsk Oblast. The license has an area of 2,447sqkm and is surrounded by proven and producing oil and gas fields.
Exploration on the Ledovy license began in the 1950s with a total of eight wells being drilled on large prospects identified by vintage seismic data. Modern 2D seismic data was subsequently acquired from 1980 to 2001. PetroNeft has reviewed the drilled and currently mapped undrilled structures and believes that there is significant upside within existing discoveries, potentially by-passed pay and new exploration prospects within the license area.
The license, which was registered on January 27, 2010, is a 25 year exploration and production license. The initial work commitments are to, within the first three years, reprocess old seismic and well data, acquire 750km of new seismic data and drill at least one well. During 2010, work will focus on the overall re-evaluation of all previous well and seismic data within the license area utilising the latest technology.
Dennis Francis, CEO of PetroNeft, said: “We are delighted that Arawak have decided to partner with us in license 67. Their quick decision is an important and encouraging technical endorsement of the potential of license 67. Work has already commenced and we look forward to working with Arawak on this and other projects in the Tomsk region”