Operational Update - Tanzania

RNS Number : 2257K

Solo Oil Plc

09 April 2018

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           

9 April 2018

SOLO OIL PLC

("Solo" or the "Company")

Operational Update, Tanzania

Solo today announces an update on operations in Tanzania provided by Aminex plc ("Aminex") who operate the Ruvuma Petroleum Sharing Agreement ("Ruvuma PSA").

·     The planned 2018 well in the Ruvuma PSA, formerly designated as Ntorya-3, has now been renamed Chikumbi-1 at the request of the Tanzanian Government.  The well is targeting the same reservoir tested in Ntorya-1 and in Ntorya-2 in an up-dip position and will additionally test a deeper exploration target. The proposed total depth is approximately 3,400 metres.

·     The tendering process for a rig to drill Chikumbi-1 is due to close during the current quarter with an expected spud date later in the year, although exact timing of which will be dependent on rig availability.

·    The National Environment Management Council (NEMC) of Tanzania has approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the acquisition of further 2D and 3D seismic data over the Ruvuma PSA acreage, focusing on the Ntorya discovery area.

Aminex also notes that they continue to be in discussions concerning a farm-out transaction of their interest in Ruvuma PSA, including the Ntorya appraisal area, with an affiliate of the Zubair Corporation, as announced by Aminex on 21 March 2018.

Solo holds a 25% interest in the Ruvuma PSA with the remaining 75% held by Aminex.

Neil Ritson, Solo's Chairman, commented:

"We are pleased that plans to drill at Ntorya continue to advance and that a second target below the Ntorya discovery can additionally be tested with the planned well.  Solo continues to make its own plans, in parallel with Aminex, to fund the eventual development of Ntorya, which we anticipate will follow the Chikumbi-1 well.  The receipt of a 25-year development licence for the Ntorya discovery remains a key step in our plans to monetise the discovery and we look forward to further news on that in due course."

Qualified Person's Statement:  

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Neil Ritson, Chairman and Director for Solo Oil plc, who has over 40 years of relevant experience in the oil industry.  Mr. Ritson is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), an Active Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London (BGS).

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.   

For further information:

Solo Oil plc Neil Ritson / Dan Maling	[phone]
Beaumont Cornish Limited Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Roland Cornish / Rosalind Abrahams	[phone]
Shore Capital Joint Broker Jerry Keen Buchanan (PR) Ben Romney / Chris Judd / Henry Wilson	[phone] [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Solo Oil plc (Solo), is a natural resources investment company with a diverse portfolio of onshore assets, principally in Europe and Africa. The company seeks to deliver returns through early stage investment in promising projects and uses management's own sector expertise to assist in strategic asset development. Solo's portfolio currently includes extensive interests in the prolific Ruvuma Basin in Tanzania, the Horse Hill oil discovery in the Weald Basin, Helium One Limited, the Tanzanian helium exploration company, and Kiliwani North, a natural gas producing project in Tanzania.   

 

END

 

 

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