South Africa Update - Farm-out Process

RNS Number : 4755B

Tower Resources PLC

21 September 2018

 

21 September 2018

Tower Resources plc

South Africa Update - Farm-out 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 provide the following update on its Algoa-Gamtoos licence in South Africa, in which the Company holds a 50% interest through its wholly owned subsidiary Rift Petroleum Limited ("Rift"), together with the Operator New Age Energy Algoa (Pty) Ltd ("New Age" or "Operator"), which holds the other 50% of the licence.

New Age have appointed ENVOI Limited to conduct a farm-out process on behalf of both New Age and Rift to seek a partner for a material share of the licence working interest, in return for funding a further 3D seismic survey over a portion of the Licence area. The new 3D seismic survey would focus on the Gamtoos basin and/or the South Outeniqua basin, the latter being part of the slope margin play being targeted by Total, Exxon and Equinor in adjacent acreage. Any prospects identified and high-graded during the processing and interpretation of the new 3D dataset could ultimately lead to a well being drilled in the 3^rd Renewal Period, presently due to end in December 2023.

In December 2017 Rift, together with the Operator, entered the 1^st two-year Renewal Period, having integrated the results from the reprocessed existing 2D seismic dataset together with the 2D and 3D seismic survey acquired as part of the Initial Exploration Period. The Operator's work during the Initial Exploration Period and the current Renewal Period has led to the generation of an enlarged inventory of prospects and leads across the three basinal plays identified on the Algoa-Gamtoos block. The initial (unaudited) prospective resources estimate, prepared to the SPE resource classification standard by the Operator for the five primary new prospects/leads identified during that process, is summarised on an unrisked volumetric basis in the table below.

Prospect/Lead	Basin	Targets/Play	Mean Prospective Resources (unrisked) (MMboe Recoverable)
Roan	Gamtoos	Syn-Rift Basin Floor Strat trap	119
Reedbuck	Gamtoos		67
Steenbok	Gamtoos		34
Canyon	Algoa: Uitenhage	Post-Rift Canyon fill	80
Deep Albian	Outenique Basin Slope	Post-Rift Canyon fed basin slope	210
			510

This resource estimate and a more detailed exposition of the Operator's latest view of the License and its prospectivity are set out on the company's website at www.towerresources.co.uk/

Jeremy Asher, Chairman & CEO, commented:

"We are delighted with the encouraging work that the Operator has performed on the Algoa-Gamtoos License and the appointment of ENVOI to manage the farm-out process. We look forward to seeing further 3D data which should enable us to identify, with our partners, the best locations for drilling. We believe that each of the three plays on the Algoa-Gamtoos license is interesting and any one, or all three of them, can justify further exploration and we look forward to providing further updates as the farm-out process progresses."

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

ENVOI Limited                                                            [phone]

Mike Lakin

Notes:

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rift Petroleum Limited, Tower Resources holds a 50% interest in the Algoa-Gamtoos licence, offshore South Africa. Tower acquired its non-operated interest in the Algoa-Gamtoos licence through the all share acquisition of Rift in April 2014.

The Algoa-Gamtoos licence covers 9,369 km² and is operated by New Age Energy Algoa (Pty) Ltd (50%). This acreage straddles the Algoa and Gamtoos basins on the shelf, as well as outboard slope edge of the South Outeniqua Basin.

The Operator has identified five primary prospects and leads, from the existing 2D and 3D seismic dataset, which are estimated to contain a combined block-wide STOIIP of 1.4+ Billion bbls with mean prospective resources in excess of 500 Million bbls (recoverable) with further upside, which new 3D seismic data is expected to better quantify.

In accordance with the guidelines for the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Dr. Mark Enfield, BSc Geology, PhD Geology, 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.

Glossary:

Prospective Resources

Those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects.

Unrisked

Quantities which have not been adjusted for the probability of loss or failure i.e. Risked. Where Risk is defined as the probability of loss or failure. Risk is not synonymous with uncertainty. Risk is generally associated with the negative outcome, the term "chance" is preferred for general usage to describe the probability of a discrete event occurring.

Recoverable

Those quantities of hydrocarbons which are estimated to be producible from accumulations, either discovered or undiscovered.

STOIIP

Stock Tank Oil Initially In Place

 

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