Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian oil and gas miner Woodside Petroleum has signed a farm-in agreement with fellow-listed Beach Energy over the Lake Tanganyika project, in western Tanzania.
While the details of the transaction remained confidential, it was known that Woodside would earn a 70% interest in the South block of the project area, as well as the respective production sharing agreement by reimbursing its share of the cost incurred by Beach, funding a further round of seismic operations over the next 12 months, and contributing to Beach’s share of the costs associated with an initial exploration well, should the company elect to proceed with the programme beyond the initial seismic operations.
Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said on Monday that the farm-in provided the company with an opportunity to secure a large acreage footprint in an underexplored oil prone frontier basin.
“Securing this highly prospective acreage represents another step forward in building Woodside’s global exploration portfolio,” he added.
Beach MD Reg Nelson said that the farm-out of the South block was in line with the company’s strategy of getting in early to prospective areas, and proving the potential of those areas.
“Bringing a world-class operation into this area, such as Woodside, will not only ensure Beach is carried to the next phase of exploration, but will also define initial drilling prospects as a result of the further seismic work that will be undertaken.”