Chariot Oil & Gas Limited, an independent oil and gas exploration group, says that further to a successful bid process, its wholly-owned subsidiary, Enigma Oil and Gas Exploration Pty Limited and consortium partner Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), have secured the exploration rights to three onshore blocks in the Marañon and Huallaga basins in northern Peru. The Marañon, in which two of the blocks are situated, is already a proven petroleum basin and currently produces 38,700 barrels of oil per day.

Enigma and JSPL, a subsidiary of the Jindal Organisation - the US$10 billion Indian steel conglomerate - jointly bid on the three onshore blocks in Peru with Enigma taking a 50% interest in block 159 in the Marañon basin, and a 20% interest in the other two; block 147 also in the Marañon and block 153 in the Huallaga basin. The blocks comprise in aggregate a gross area of 19,567km² - a net aggregate of 6,070km². Due to its technical qualifications and expertise, Enigma is the designated operator.

The blocks of interest had been previously appraised by HRT Petroleum Ltda (HRT), the global petroleum system specialists working on Chariot’s blocks on and offshore Namibia, on behalf of Chariot and Enigma. Two of the three blocks represent a unique opportunity where HRT’s diamondoid and biomarker technology can be employed to look for deeper source rocks and reservoirs in an area of the world where shallower well tests predominate.

As part of the bid process, Enigma and JSPL submitted a proposed work program that requires the reprocessing of existing 2d seismic data and will perform a combination of 2d seismic acquisition, gravity and magnetic data acquisition and wells.

The exploration phase comprises five periods which cover a seven year time frame. This can be extended by an additional three years, with a variety of relinquishment decisions and additional work program commitments required along the way.

The net amount in work program performance guarantees which Enigma has committed to the bid is approximately US$4m, although the Group will recover this guarantee against the work as it is carried out.

Kevin Broger, CEO of Chariot Oil & Gas plc said: “We are delighted to have been successful in this bid process as we consider this to be a key opportunity for the Company and is very much in line with our stated strategy of looking for opportunities in order to enhance and balance the Group’s portfolio. These blocks provide Chariot with a presence in a proven petroleum province in South America, a strong financial partner in JSPL and operator status in an emerging region where we can utilise the considerable technical expertise and specialist technologies of HRT.”

Tags: Chariot Oil & Gas Limited, Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL)