Pura Vida to press play in Morocco

30th March 2015

By: Esmarie Iannucci

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

  

Font size: - +

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed junior Pura Vida Energy was gearing up to spud its first well at Mazagan permit, offshore Morocco, by April, with the company also advancing negotiations with potential farm-in partners over its offshore Gabon assets.

At the start of 2013, Pura Vida inked a farm-in agreement with US major Freeport-McMoRan under which that company could earn a 52% share in the Mazagan permits by sole-funding two exploration wells at a maximum cost of $215-million.

“This is the year we see the value of that farm-in deal being realised,” Pura Vida MD Damon Neaves told Mining Weekly Online on Monday.

“For a junior like Pura Vida to be part of this $200-million drill campaign is big business,” he added.

With the spudding of the first well, which would take about 80 days to complete, Freeport McMoRan was targeting a resource of some 1.4-billion barrels.

The spudding of the second well under the farm-in agreement was scheduled for late 2015, or early 2016.

While the Morocco farm-in was in full swing, Pura Vida was also hunting for a similar partnership over its offshore Gabon assets, which cover some 1 200 km2 of a producing oil basin.

“This is a smaller position than the 8 000 km2 tenement area offshore Morocco, but we are in the heart of an established and producing basin, and it’s a very good address for a junior,” Neaves said.

While discussions were still at an early stage, and subject to confidentiality agreements, Neaves did say that Pura Vida was targeting a range of potential partners, including major and mid-cap developers.

“What we are seeking to do on both our Gabon and Madagascar assets is to replicate the strategy we pursued so effectively in Morocco, and that is to bring on an industry partner.

“Our strategy relies on capturing the funding from majors, so we have large-scale exploration assets with a lot of follow-up potential,” Neaves added.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION