Commencement of ESIA process

RNS Number : 8909Y

Tower Resources PLC

11 December 2017

 

11 December 2017

Tower Resources plc

Commencement of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment process

Tower Resources plc (the "Company" or "Tower" (TRP.L, TRP LN)), the AIM listed oil and gas company with its focus on Africa, is pleased to announce the award to CIME Services Sarl of Cameroon ("CIME") of a contract for support in preparing an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") for the drilling of multiple wells on Tower's Thali licence in Cameroon.

The ESIA is a process governed by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development of Cameroon ("MINEPDED"). The contract has been awarded following a competitive tender among three companies, and covers the preparation and approval by MINEPDED of the terms of reference of the ESIA, the preparation of a stakeholder consultation report, and support through public hearings and the submission of the ESIA report to the MINEPDED for approval.

The completion and approval of the ESIA constitutes an important step before launching the drilling campaign on the Thali license.

CIME is a highly experienced firm in conducting oil and gas ESIAs in Cameroon. It is expected that the ESIA process will be completed by June 2018.

Jeremy Asher, Chairman & CEO, commented:

"Commencing the ESIA process now is important to enable Tower to be in a position to commence drilling in the second half of 2018.  We look forward to working with CIME and MINEPDED on the assessment, and will update shareholders as the work proceeds. This represents a further step towards our goal of reaching oil production at Thali as soon as possible."

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

Contacts

Tower Resources plc	[phone] [e-mail]
Jeremy Asher, Chairman and CEO
Andrew Matharu, VP Corporate Affairs
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	[phone]
Stuart Gledhill
Caroline Rowe

Notes:

Tower Resources Cameroon S.A, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tower Resources plc, holds a 100% interest in the shallow water Thali (formerly known as "Dissoni") Production Sharing Contract (PSC), in the Rio del Rey basin, offshore Cameroon. Tower was awarded the PSC on 15 September 2015 for an Initial Exploration Period of 3 years.

The Thali PSC covers an area of 119.2 km², with water depths ranging from 8 to 48 metres, and lies in the prolific Rio del Rey basin, in the eastern part of the Niger Delta. The Rio del Rey basin has, to date, produced over one billion barrels of oil and has estimated remaining reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent ("boe"), primarily at depths of less than 2,000 metres. The Rio del Rey is a sub-basin of the Niger Delta, an area in which over 34.5 billion barrels of oil has been discovered, with 2.5 billion boe attributed to the Cameroonian section. The Thali Block has the potential to hold up to four distinct oil play systems, including the established play in which three discovery wells, one gas (Rumpi-1), one oil and gas (Njonji-2) and one oil (Njonji-1), have already been drilled. The current contingent Oil-In-Place estimate for the Njonji discovery is 39 million barrels (Pmean, gross) with an estimated 7 to 15 million barrels of recoverable oil. These have historically been viewed as sub-commercial discoveries, but once the re-interpretation of seismic imaging has been achieved Tower sees potential to add incremental oil reserves to achieve commerciality. There is also significant potential to develop prospects at deeper levels, in both structural and stratigraphic traps, once better imaging has been achieved. 

In accordance with the guidelines for the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Dr Mark Enfield, BSc, PhD, FGS, Advisor to the Board of Tower Resources plc, who has over 30 years' experience in the oil & gas industry, is the qualified person that has reviewed and approved the technical content of this announcement.

 

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