Tower Resources (LON:TRP) and its joint venture partner Wessex Exploration (LON:WSX) have signed an assurance agreement for a production sharing contract with the government of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
The agreement covers the Imlili Block, which is located offshore the territory known as the Western Sahara. Tower and Wessex each have a 50% equity and working interest in the agreement and associated PSC and Wessex is the operator.
The Imlili Block covers an area of approximately 16,965 sq km and lies offshore from the very large onshore Bojador Block (44,298 sq km) and east of the offshore Guelta Block (15,760 sq km), in each of which Tower and Wessex each have a 50% equity interest.
Tower acquired its interests in Bojador and Guelta when it acquired Comet Petroleum in June 2008. Water depths on the Imlili Block range from 0 to 150 metres.
The award of the block gives Tower and Wessex joint control over a swathe of prospective acreage more than 500km long in a dip direction, extending from the outcrop in the east to the deep water in the west.
The Imlili Block was apparently poorly explored more than five decades ago but is known to be underlain by a stratigraphic section of Mesozoic and Tertiary clastic deltaic facies rocks in excess of 4,000 metres thick. The block is also underlain by a small salt basin.
A few exploratory wells drilled in the block and surrounds in the early sixties had oil shows in good quality sandstones, and the geologic data available suggests the presence of all of the ingredients necessary for a working petroleum system.
The SADR is the democratically-elected government of the territory known as the Western Sahara, and is recognised by the United Nations as a non-self governing territory. Tower will be required to pay only a small annual administrative fee to the SADR to retain the block until the sovereignty of the territory has been settled. In the meantime, the prospectivity of this acreage will be evaluated using legacy seismic and exploratory well data currently available to the joint venture partners.
Peter Kingston, Tower’s executive chairman, said: “Tower now has potential access to adjacent exploration licences extending from onshore to deep water prospectivity. There will be limited activity until a political solution has been reached on SADR sovereignty. Once that occurs, Tower should have access to exploration acreage of the highest quality. I wish the West Saharan people good fortune in their quest for an independent future.”
