Victoria Oil & Gas receives Presidential Decree for acquisition of 75 percent interest in Matanda Block
Victoria Oil & Gas has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Gaz du Cameroun (‘GDC’) has received the Decree signed by President Paul Biya on the 17th December 2018, authorising the transfer of interest in the Matanda Production Sharing Agreement (‘Matanda PSC’) licence assigned from Glencore in early 2016.
Highlights
- GDC has now secured 75% ownership and is operator of the Matanda PSC, adjacent to its Logbaba concession, which at 1,235 square kilometres Matanda is over 60 times the area of the Logbaba concession
- North Matanda offshore field contains gross estimated 2C recoverable gas resources of 150bcf and 6 million barrels of condensate and upside of 1TCF of gas
- Onshore prospects close to Logbaba gas pipeline network will be the focus, where resources of Gross Prospective Mean GIIP are estimated at 1303bcf of gas contained in 23 prospects and leads
- Existing GDC infrastructure with close proximity to Matanda will allow new discoveries to be delivered to industrial users efficiently and promptly
- A minimum work programme obligation of one exploration well plus seismic reprocessing to be completed in the first 2 years of the assignment following the Presidential Decree.
GDC, Glencore Exploration Cameroon and Afex Global (‘AFEX’) have received the Decree signed by President Paul Biya on the 17th December 2018, authorising the transfer of interest in PSC assigned from Glencore in early 2016.
The Decree confirms the previously agreed assignment of the Matanda Block, a large hydrocarbon licence in Cameroon. The terms of the assignment include the transfer by Glencore of 75% of its participating interest in the PSC to GDC and 15% of its participating interest to AFEX, who previously held a 10% interest. Société Nationale Des Hydrocarbures (“SNH”) have a 25% back in right after an Exploitation License is granted.
As consideration for the assignment, GDC will become Operator and will assume responsibility for carrying out the Work Programme agreed with the Government of Cameroon. The agreed obligation for this work programme is one exploration and appraisal well plus reprocessing of existing seismic in the first two-year period of the PSC.
Matanda covers an area of approx. 1,235 square kilometres and is highly prospective for natural gas and gas condensate.
It contains the previously discovered offshore North Matanda Field with current 2C recoverable gas resources of 150bcf Gross and 6 million barrels of condensate and upside of 1TCF of gas. In addition, there are further onshore Prospective resources of 1303bcf of gas contained in 23 identified prospects and leads.
GDC and AFEX will focus on the onshore prospects located within a few kilometres of the adjacent Logbaba concession. The close proximity of the existing Logbaba gas pipeline network will also allow for new discoveries on Matanda to deliver additional natural gas to industrial users in Cameroon.
The company commented: “It is very rewarding to receive Presidential approval for this acquisition. Matanda provides material upside to underpin our growth plans and with a block size 60 times larger than Logbaba and significant onshore potential, development of Matanda in parallel with Logbaba should provide both size and flexibility. Matanda, which is primarily onshore and on the western side of Douala, provides an opportunity to develop an independent gas field to feed the growing industrial and domestic markets in the Bonaberi areas and beyond. Additionally, the offshore North Matanda Field has considerable potential in the longer term.
“We thank AFEX, Glencore and SNH, the Cameroon national oil company, for their assistance in bringing this opportunity to a successful conclusion. The development of Matanda will now be built on the firm foundation established by Glencore and AFEX. The assignment and development of Matanda is consistent with our strategy to provide clean and reliable energy to industrial users in Cameroon.”
Source: Energy-pedia