Signature of MOU Between Niger and Nigeria

RNS Number : 6317V

Savannah Petroleum PLC

24 July 2018

 

24 July 2018

Savannah Petroleum PLC

("Savannah" or "the Company")

Signature of Memorandum of Understanding Between Niger and Nigeria

Development of Agadem Rift Basin crude oil export solution

Savannah Petroleum PLC, the British independent oil and gas company focused around oil and gas activities in Niger and Nigeria, is pleased to note the signature earlier today of a Memorandum of Understanding (the "MOU") between the Governments of the Republic of Niger and the Federal Republic of Nigeria in relation to the export of crude oil from the Agadem Rift Basin ("ARB") of South East Niger to Nigeria (the "Niger-Nigeria Export Project").

The MOU was signed by the Minister of Petroleum of Niger, Mr. Foumakoye Gado, and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of Nigeria, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, and witnessed by President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger and President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. Savannah, China National Petroleum Corporation ("CNPC") and various other project stakeholders and dignitaries were also in attendance.

The MOU envisages the construction of an export pipeline from the ARB to a refinery in Katsina State, Northern Nigeria. The Steering and Technical Committees in relation to the project were also inaugurated at today's ceremony.

The MOU follows the upstream approval granted by the Republic of Niger to CNPC earlier this year in relation to the Agadem PSC Exclusive Exploitation Area 3, the entire production from which is expected to be exported from Niger using newbuild infrastructure to Northern Nigeria or though export terminals in either Benin or Cameroon.

Andrew Knott, CEO of Savannah Petroleum, said:

"We expect the Niger-Nigeria Export Project to provide one of the potential routes to market for Savannah's existing and future discoveries in Niger. The degree of high level support for the project from both countries is clear, as is the significant positive economic impact it has the potential to deliver. We expect significant progress to be made over the course of the next six months.

This project compliments our plans to initiate an early production system for the R3 East area of our R3/R4 PSC in the ARB, which we hope will enable early monetisation of our recent discoveries."

For further information contact:
Savannah Petroleum	[phone]
Andrew Knott, CEO
Isatou Semega-Janneh, CFO
Jessica Ross, VP Corporate Affairs
Strand Hanson (Nominated Adviser)	[phone]
Rory Murphy
James Spinney
Ritchie Balmer
Mirabaud (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Peter Krens
Ed Haig-Thomas
Hannam & Partners (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Neil Passmore Alejandro Demichelis
Sam Merlin
Celicourt Communications	[phone]
Mark Antelme
Jimmy Lea

The information contained within this announcement is considered to be inside information prior to its release, as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No.596/2014, and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.

Notes to Editors:

About Savannah Petroleum

Savannah Petroleum PLC is an AIM listed oil and gas company with exploration and production assets in Niger and Nigeria. Savannah's flagship assets include the R1/R2 and R3/R4 PSCs, which cover c.50% of the highly prospective Agadem Rift Basin ("ARB") of South East Niger, acquired in 2014/15. The Company is also in the process of acquiring interests in the cash flow generative Uquo and Stubb Creek oil and gas fields and a 20% interest in the Accugas midstream business in South East Nigeria from Seven Energy.

Further information on Savannah Petroleum PLC can be found on the Company's website: http://www.savannah-petroleum.com/en/index.php

About the Agadem Rift Basin

The Agadem Rift Basin is located in South East Niger and covers an area of approximately 30,000 km² in size located in South East Niger. In the modern era, China National Petroleum Corporation ("CNPC") has made 97 discoveries from the last 127 exploration wells with the principal discovered geological play being a relatively shallow Eocene Sokor Alternances tilted fault light oil block play. The basin has been in production since 2011 following a first phase of development of the Agadem PSC area (which is adjacent to Savannah permit areas) by a CNPC-led joint venture. Despite the high success rate seen in the ARB to date, Savannah believes the basin to have been relatively lightly explored, both in terms of overall activity levels and stratigraphic horizons which have been targeted. Further exploration activity in the basin is aided by the very large geological dataset managed by the Niger's Ministry of Energy & Petroleum which comprises c.12,000 km² of modern 3D seismic, c.30,000 km of 2D seismic and over 250 well data suites.

About Savannah's ARB Project

Savannah's Niger project consists of two PSC areas (R1/R2 and R3/R4) which together cover an area of 13,655 km². Across these permit areas, Savannah has mapped 126 un-drilled exploration prospects and leads.

Following an extensive period of geological data acquisition and evaluation, Savannah commenced a 3 firm well and 6 optional well drilling program with the spud of the Bushiya-1 well in March 2018. The initial focus of this program has been the R3 East area, with all three wells drilled to date by the Company (Bushiya-1, Amdigh-1 and Kunama-1) having resulted in light oil discoveries.

 

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