Exploration company Chariot Oil & Gas (LON:CHAR) has indicated that the schedule for drilling the first well on its acreage offshore Namibia may slip beyond the original target of the fourth quarter of this year.
The company said the timing of other planned wells in its drilling programme could also be delayed beyond the first quarter of 2012 as its farm-in partners spend time setting up operations in Namibia.
Expectation surrounding Chariot’s upcoming drill programme has been building steadily through 2011. However, releasing its interim results today, Chariot said that while it was ready to begin drilling in early December, it had yet to sign a rig contract. It blamed the delay on an increasingly “tight” market for deep water rigs of the type it needs to drill on its Northern licence area, where it will initially target the Tapir prospect.
Chariot has identified the drilling locations for a 4-5 well programme planned through until the end of 2013. Of particular interest will be the drilling of the Nimrod prospect on southern Licence 2714A, which is 50% held and operated by Petrobras and where Chariot farmed down a further 25% of its 50% stake to BP (LON:BP) over the summer.
Chariot said that farm-out discussions were progressing with multiple parties in its other licence areas. In the summer, the company agreed a small farm-out to Petroleum Geo Services on its least mature acreage in the central licences. A 3D seismic programme on those licences is now due to get underway in November.
During the first half of the year, Chariot raised US$140 million in a share placing and increased it s gross unrisked prospective resources to 16.1 billion barrels – 8.9 billion barrels are attributable to Chariot.
Paul Welch, the chief executive of Chariot, said: “We have continued to make significant progress over the period, successfully completing a fundraise and securing two further farm-outs as well as furthering our exploration work across all blocks. With three major partners on board we feel we have strong endorsement of our portfolio and Namibia’s potential to become an important hydrocarbon province. With finances secured we continue to pursue our corporate objectives aggressively whilst seeking to maintain the best value for shareholders and believe that 2012 will be a critical year in the company’s growth and development.”
Chariot is debt free and held cash balances of US$139.6 million at 31 August 2011. It incurred a loss of $4.3 million for the six months ended 31 August 2011, against a loss of $2.4 million in the same period of 2010.
