Update Ntorya Appraisal Well, Tanzania

RNS Number : 7459M

Solo Oil Plc

18 October 2016

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 7:00 am                                                                                    18 October 2016

SOLO OIL PLC

("Solo" or the "Company")

UPDATe NTORYA APPRAISAL WELL, TANZANIA

Solo is pleased to announce that the site preparations for the Ntorya-2 appraisal well have now been completed and that mobilisation of the Caroil#2 rig from the Ntorya-1 wellsite is now underway.

The Ntorya-2 pad is located approximately 1.5 kilometres to the southwest of the Ntorya-1 well. The rig and associated equipment are being transported to the new site, will be rigged up and tested, and will then undergo any maintenance required before being taken on under the contract reported on 23 September 2016. The majority of other well services have also now been contracted.  Solo therefore estimates that the Ntorya-2 appraisal well is likely to spud in December 2016.

Solo holds a 25% interest in the Ruvuma Petroleum Sharing Agreement ("Ruvuma PSA") which contains the Ntorya gas condensate discovery made in 2012 with the Ntorya-1 well which was tested at a rate of 20.1 million feet per day of gas ("mmscfd") and 139 barrels per day of condensate from a 3.5 metre interval at the top of a 20 metre Cretaceous sandstone pay zone at a depth of approximately 2,600 feet. 

The Ntorya-1 well has been credited in an independent report by Senergy (GB) Limited with gross 153 billion cubic feet ("bcf") of gas in place, of which 70 bcf are considered gross best estimate contingent resources.  A further gross best estimate of undiscovered gas in place of over 1 trillion cubic feet is attributed to the Ntorya Prospect as a whole and is the target of the Ntorya-2 well which is being drilled updip and in a thicker part of the sand body interpreted on the 2014 seismic data acquired to facilitate appraisal. 

The Ntorya discovery lies just 20 kilometres from the 36-inch Mtwara to Dar es Salaam gas pipeline which was commissioned in late 2015 and is transporting produced gas from various fields, including the Kiliwani North Field where Solo holds a 7.125% interest, to gas markets in the north of Tanzania.

Neil Ritson, Solo's Chairman, commented;

"Advancing the Ntorya appraisal and its commercialisation is now a key objective for Solo and we are pleased that rig mobilisation is now underway.  The discovery of gas in high quality Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs in the onshore portion of the Ruvuma Basin represents very significant value and we look forward to confirmation of the spud date in due course."

The Ruvuma PSA is operated by Aminex plc who hold the remaining 75% working interest.

Qualified Person's Statement:

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Neil Ritson, Chairman and Director of Solo Oil plc who has over 38 years of relevant experience in the energy sector. Mr. Ritson is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, an Active Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

For further information:

Solo Oil plc Neil Ritson Daniel Maling	[phone]
Beaumont Cornish Limited Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Roland Cornish	[phone]
Shore Capital Joint Broker Jerry Keen Beaufort Securities Joint Broker Jon Belliss Cassiopeia Services Ltd Investor and Media Relations Stefania Barbaglio	[phone] [phone] [phone]

Glossary:

bcf	10 to the power 9, or billion, cubic feet
best estimate	an estimate representing the best technical assessment of likely projected volumes.  Often associated with a central (2C), P50 or Mean Value
contingent resources	those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations, but the applied project(s) are not yet considered mature enough for commercial development due to one or more contingencies
discovery	a discovery is a petroleum accumulation for which one or several exploratory wells have established through testing, sampling and/or logging the existence of a significant quantity of potentially moveable hydrocarbons
gas initially in place or GIIP	the quantity of gas that is estimated to exist originally in naturally occurring accumulations before any extraction or production
recovery or recoverable	the quantity or portion of petroleum, here gas, initially-in-place that can be extracted by a well or wells to the surface
reserves	reserves are defined by the SPE as those quantities of petroleum, here oil and gas, which are anticipated to be commercially recovered from known accumulations from a given date forward
tcf	10 to the power 12, or trillion, cubic feet

 

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