Ophir Energy acquires interests in Indonesia

Ophir Energy has entered into an agreement with Niko Resources to acquire interests in seven deepwater Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) in Indonesia.

The transaction brings access to large acreage positions in highly prospective basins and expands Ophir’s footprint in South East Asia, following the award of acreage offshore Myanmar earlier this year.

Highlights

• Acquisition of interests in seven PSCs, six of which will be operated by Ophir, for a cash consideration of US$ 31.3million with further payments contingent on exploration success.
• Significant new country entry in deepwater blocks with identified unrisked prospective resource of >3.0 billion boe and considerable further exploration potential.
• PSCs split across three core areas with exposure to a mix of proven and frontier oil and gas plays.
• Drilling activity commencing 2016 over a footprint of 21,500 km².
• Post completion, Ophir will be a leading deepwater exploration acreage holder in Indonesia and the transaction will increase the Company’s total gross licensed acreage by 40%.

Comments

Nick Cooper, CEO, Ophir Energy, commented: “We are excited by the exploration and market opportunities in South East Asia, which can complement our continued expansion in Africa. This transaction with Niko Resources provides one new country entry but access to three new core areas. The asset package adds a high impact, deepwater, exploration portfolio to our existing asset base at a very low entry cost.

“Indonesia is a mature, hydrocarbon producing province with a long-established regulatory and fiscal framework that contains an exciting mix of proven and frontier deepwater basins. The latter are largely underexplored and are in-line with our strategy of early entries into operated, potentially transformational acreage where multiple geological plays have been identified.

“This deal represents a significant reloading of the company’s exploration portfolio, expanding our gross acreage by 40% and in combination with Ophir’s recent Myanmar PSC award, positions Ophir as a leading deepwater Asian explorer. We look forward to delivering a number of high impact wells from this new Asian portfolio as well from our existing African assets in the coming years.”

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/exploration/27102014/ophir-energy-expands-in-indonesia-276/