18th Apr 2007 07:00
Mediterranean Oil & Gas Plc18 April 2007 MEDITERRANEAN OIL & GAS PLC ("the Company" or "MOG") US$5 MILLION EXPLORATION CAMPAIGN FARMOUT OF MALTA PROSPECTS 18 April 2007 The Board of Mediterranean Oil & Gas Plc (AIM: MOG) is pleased to announce todaya further update to the Company's Maltese acreage. Leni Gas & Oil Plc (AIM: LGO) has agreed to farm into the Company's ExplorationStudy Agreement (ESA) over blocks 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Area 4 Offshore Malta byexpending USD5 million to earn a 20% interest. The Company will continue to actas operator with 80% equity. After expenditure of USD5 million, LGO may increaseits interest in a production sharing contract over the ESA area to 50% (MOG willreduce to 50%) by funding 80% of the cost of a well. The agreement is subject tothe approval by the Government of Malta. Last year the Company commissioned a number of detailed technical studiesincluding reinterpretation of seismic over the Maltese acreage. A comprehensivereport was prepared which included the identification of an additional sixprospects and completion of a volumetric reappraisal of the Hagar Qim, Skorbaand Tarxien prospects. As previously announced on 10 May 2006, the six newprospects had best estimate STOIIP totalling 5.14BBstb and best estimateprospective oil resources of 1.3BBstb. The Company now plans to shootapproximately 1,000 line kilometres of 2d seismic over this area during thecurrent quarter (Q2). This initial campaign will be primarily directed towardsincreasing the understanding of the large prospects on blocks 4, 5 and 6. Theseismic work is a precursor to entering into a production sharing contract overthe area during the current ESA term to March 2008. The previously identifiedprospects at Hagar Qim, Skorba and Tarxien together with the newly identifiedprospects, particularly Luzzu, provide best estimate prospective oil resourcesof 1.5BBstb and best estimate STOIIP of 5.7BBstb. High estimate STOIIP exceeds14.4BBstb on the permit. The offshore south of Malta is an under-explored petroleum province related toan extension of the offshore Libyan and Tunisian proven hydrocarbon provinces. Mr David Lenigas, a non-executive director of the Company, is also chairman ofLGO. The Company's board met in Mr Lenigas' absence and unanimously resolvedthat this transaction is in the best interest of the Company. QUALIFIED PERSON Giovanni Catalano (a director of the Company) holds a masters degree in geologyand has had over twenty-five years in the upstream oil and gas industry. Priorto joining the Company Mr Catalano held senior positions with Woodside EnergyPty Ltd in Perth and prior to Woodside (seven years), Mr Catalano was with AGIP(nine years) and Lasmo International (eleven years). He is a former director ofWoodside Energy UK and AGIP Mauritania BV companies and former chairman ofWoodside Energias SA in Spain. Mr Catalano is an Associate Councillor ofAssomineraria. He has compiled, read and approved the technical disclosure inthis announcement. The technical disclosure in this announcement complies withthe SPE/WPC Standard. GLOSSARY Bbls/month stock tank barrels of oil per monthBBstb Billion stock tank barrelsMMstb Million stock tank barrelsMMscf/month Million standard cubic feet per monthBcf Billion cubic feetscm/Mscm Standard cubic metres /Million standard cubic metresscm/month Standard cubic metres per monthSPE/WPC Society of Petroleum Engineers/World Petroleum CongressSTOIIP stock tank oil initially in place Enquiries: Mediterranean Oil & Gas Plc Giovanni Catalano, Tel: +39 06 474 5756 CEO/Managing Director Tony Trevisan, Tel: +44 790 162 4290 Executive Director WH Ireland Limited Philip Haydn-Salter Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 1666 Paul Dudley/James Joyce Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 1666 Tristone Capital Limited Nick Morgan Tel: +44 (0)20 7399 2470 Pelham Public Relations Philip Dennis Tel: +44 (0)20 7743 6363 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
CERP.L