Agreement To Operate New Wyoming Prospect

RNS Number : 5217S

Nostra Terra Oil & Gas Company PLC

09 July 2015

 

Nostra Terra Oil and Gas Company plc

("Nostra Terra" or the "Company")

Agreement To Operate New Wyoming Prospect

Nostra Terra (AIM:NTOG), the oil and gas exploration and production company with a growing portfolio of assets in the USA, is pleased to announce it has entered into a farm-out agreement (the "Farm-Out Agreement") with Koch Exploration Company, LLC ("Koch"), a subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., in relation to the Paw Paw Prospect located in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming.

Highlights

·    Nostra Terra to operate 2,440 net acres in new prospect in Wyoming

·    Nostra Terra earns 100% Working Interest through drilling of the first well

·    Koch will retain an overriding royalty interest

·   Potentially twice the size and a direct analogue to the highly productive Enigma Field (EUR 3.788 million barrels of oil, Tensleep Formation) located only two miles southeast

·    Estimated test well cost of US$1.2 million

·    Up to 25 potential locations for vertical wells are possible with total recoverable potential exceeding 7 million barrels of oil by primary and secondary recovery

·    PV10 of a single, conventional well in the Tensleep Formation estimated at US$5.446 million

·    Geophysical and geological due-diligence already completed

·    Expected to spud in Q4 of 2015

·    The Tensleep Formation has a history of prolific production and there are two nearby analogues

·    Secondary targets are the Phosphoria and Mowry Shale, both with known production in the area

Agreement Details and Planning

The board of Nostra Terra is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Koch Exploration Company, LLC ("Koch") to earn an interest in the 2,440 net acre Paw Paw Prospect in Wyoming. The Prospect was first mapped by Koch and then independently by Nostra Terra, using proprietary 3D seismic data.

There is no up-front fee payable to Koch, only the commitment to drill the first well to earn the leasehold. Nostra Terra will drill a conventional 4,500 foot well to test the Tensleep Formation at an estimated cost of US$1.2m. Koch will retain an overriding royalty interest ("ORRI") until payout and retain the right to convert the ORRI to a working interest. Nostra Terra and its partners will earn 80% net revenue in the test well. The Farm-Out Agreement provides Nostra Terra with considerable flexibility to bring in partners, maintaining significant upside potential.

Nostra Terra is in the process of becoming a licensed operator in Wyoming and has already completed extensive work on the prospect including; geological & geophysical analysis, third-party reservoir engineering, and preparations with drilling and completions contractors. Nostra Terra plans to create an Exploration Unit (with the US Bureau of Land Management) expected to be completed during Q4 2015. During this time, the Company intends to sell working interests to third parties. The first well is currently planned to drill during Q4 2015.

The Farm-out Agreement gives the Company access to a near ready-to-drill prospect with considerable short and long-term production potential. The directors believe that Paw Paw significantly increases the potential scope of Nostra Terra's operations. Nostra Terra's negotiations to operate the wells is consistent with the longer term goal of gaining greater control of its own destiny. In the view of the directors, the Company is also benefiting from much lower lease and seismic acquisition costs

Nostra Terra continues to investigate farm-out prospects in basins with an established history of oil production and the availability of farm-outs has increased dramatically over the past several months.

Independent Evaluation of Assets

Based on technical analysis using the analogous Enigma Field, a potential resource of the leased acreage has been estimated by Haas Petroleum Engineering Services, Inc. ("HPESI") on behalf of the Company. According to this report, as many as 25 conventional vertical wells could be drilled on the prospect. The primary and secondary recovery could be as much as 7.368 MMBO (PV10 US$135 million, before facilities cost) by this method.  After correcting for transportation and oil quality (differential), the beginning oil price utilized in projections was approximately US$40.

Resource Report Summary

				Oil	FNI	PV10
Single Well Primary Recovery				110,775	$1,935,451	$1,052,465
Single Well Primary + Secondary				275,595	$8,298,754	$5,446,077
Total Primary Resources				3,788,000
Total Resources Primary + Secondary				7,368,000

Source: Haas Petroleum Engineering Services Inc. assessment of net Prospective Resources. Type decline curves were extracted from analog wells using decline curve analysis. Prospective resources take into account constraints on profitability, such as royalties, operating expenses and future commodity prices.

Regional Geology and Prospectivity Mapping

The Pawpaw Prospect is a conventional type structural fault trap that was originated by studying the regional geology, well logs, several Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook articles and regional 2-D seismic lines available for lease by seismic brokers. A four square mile 3-D proprietary seismic shoot was initiated in 2012 and determined that a possible fault could have trapped oil in a way similar to the Enigma Field just two miles southeast. The Enigma oilfield was discovered in 1988 and was in full production from 12 wells within two years. Independent calculations suggest that 3.63 MMBO has already been produced through 2014 and that 3.788 MMBO will ultimately be recovered from 18 producing wells.

The primary objective of the Pawpaw Prospect is the Tensleep Formation. The Pennsylvanian Tensleep Formation is composed of porous Aeolian sands with interbedded tight dolomitic rocks.  Total combined thickness of all of the porous sands varies from 65 to 85 feet in the area.  Average porosity for the Tensleep is about 15% with good permeability. The interbedded dolomites have low permeability and act as barriers between each of the porous sands. The sands fracture but those that have healed tend to compartmentalize the Tensleep production.  Many of the Tensleep producing fields in the Big Horn Basin are spaced at 10 acres or less because of these flow barriers. Twenty-acre spacing was assumed in the earlier projections.

The top member of the Tensleep Formation is the Nowood Member that ranges from five feet to up to 50 feet in the area and can form the caprock seal for the Tensleep throughout the Big Horn Basin on many of the structural closures. The Nowood Member is usually tight but can have a porous streak.

Other potential secondary objectives are the Mowry Shale and the Phosphoria Formation. Both of these zones have produced within several miles of the Paw Paw Prospect.

Matt Lofgran, Chief Executive Officer of Nostra Terra, commented:

"We're pleased to have reached an agreement with Koch Exploration Company, LLC. Koch Exploration is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, the second largest private company in America. Nostra Terra will operate and Koch retains an interest in the prospect going forward. 

This prospect also represents the type of opportunity we have previously told shareholders and investors we planned to target, being conventional wells in proven basins, where economics are attractive even at lower oil prices. Acquisitions such as these should help lower our risk profile and actively protect the future of the Company. We look forward to sharing the progress on this prospect with shareholders."

The technical information within this announcement has been reviewed by Alden McCall, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, a Certified Petroleum Geologist and a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Glossary

"EUR" means Estimated Ultimate Recovery

"FNI" means Future Net Income

"MBO" each mean thousand barrels of oil

"MMBO" each mean million barrels of oil

"PV10" means the pre-tax, net present value of acquisition cost and estimated future revenues to be generated from the production of hydrocarbons, discounted at the annual discount rate of 10 per cent.

For further information, visit www.ntog.co.uk or contact:

Nostra Terra Oil and Gas Company plc

Matt Lofgran, CEO

[e-mail]                                                [phone]

Sanlam Securities UK Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker)	[phone]
Lindsay Mair/James Thomas
Jamie Vickers (Broking)
Walbrook PR Ltd	[phone]
Gary Middleton (Media Relations)

 

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