TIDMGBP
RNS Number : 7039P
Global Petroleum Ltd
22 June 2022
22 June 2022
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the
publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information
Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
Global Petroleum Limited
("Global" or "the Company")
Operational Update
Global Petroleum Limited (AIM: GBP) today provides an update on
its operations in Namibia and Italy.
Namibia
On 25 April 2022 the Company announced that that the Namibian
authorities had granted a one year extension to the Initial
Exploration Period of PEL 94 until September 2023, also making the
observation that the Venus and Graff discoveries heralded a major
new petroleum province in Namibia.
Global now notes the confirmation by TotalEnergies that it plans
to drill an appraisal well on the Venus discovery in the third
quarter of 2022. Following this, it has also been reported that
TotalEnergies plans to test both the appraisal well and the
original discovery well, Venus-1X.
Global also notes the completion by Shell of the La Rona-1 well,
which was drilled immediately following the Graff-1 discovery well
and close to it. The Shell wells are located - as is Venus-1X - in
the Orange Basin, southern Namibia - see Figure 1.
Although no formal announcement has been made by Shell, reports
suggest that Graff and La Rona have discovered significant volumes
of oil and gas in two reservoirs. Shell has stated that it will
drill more appraisal and exploration wells in order to prove
commerciality and to design the optimal development plan.
Unsurprisingly, interest in Namibian offshore exploration has
risen unprecedentedly - a development which has become evident to
Global in the course of its farmout of PEL 94, and also to industry
observers generally.
As previously indicated, a consequence of the TotalEnergies and
Shell discoveries is that companies, particularly potential new
entrants, are taking significant time to evaluate the geology and
petroleum systems offshore Namibia.
Whilst focus is understandably intense in the Orange Basin -
especially in the region of the discoveries - Global's view is that
oil-prone opportunities there are both limited and likely to be
very expensive.
The Company believes that the Walvis Basin, where PEL 94 is
situated, also has the potential to be extremely successful, but
has the advantage of much shallower water depths generally than the
discoveries in the south.
Global believes that there is commonality of both source and
reservoir between the two discoveries in the Orange Basin and PEL
94. A presentation given by Global at a recent industry workshop in
Namibia, regarding mapping of the source rock and migration of oil
and gas from it, was well received and has generated additional
interest in the PEL 94 data room process.
Italy
As previously announced by the Company, the 'Plan for
Sustainable Energy Transition of Appropriate Areas' ("Plan") came
into effect in Italy in February 2022.
Global and its advisers have subsequently undertaken a detailed
study of the Plan, with particular reference to the Company's four
exploration permit applications in the Southern Adriatic
("Applications").
A key structural component of the Plan is the provision that in
future only exploration for gas (as opposed to oil) will be
permitted in Italy, both onshore and offshore. With specific regard
to the Applications, the Plan also provides that certain sections
of the application areas as previously constituted are deemed to be
excluded, a process referred to by the relevant authorities as
"re-perimeterisation" - see Figure 2.
Notwithstanding the Company's reservations as to the
practicality of gas-only exploration - a reservation which Global
believes is widely shared within the Energy Industry and beyond -
the Company provided the Italian authorities technical evidence of
the gas prospectivity within the reduced application areas, also
thereby accepting the re-perimeterisation of those areas.
Having considered the communications from the Company as above,
the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition has now informed
Global that the Company's exploration objectives in the
Applications are in compliance with the provisions of the Plan, and
that there is no impediment to the continuation of the process
(towards eventual award of the exploration permits).
The Company has decided to continue the process accordingly,
which it is advised will include, amongst other things,
re-qualification in accordance with technical and financial
criteria.
In so deciding, the Company notes that it had previously
satisfied all of the then required legal and administrative
procedures in connection with the Applications and subsequently won
all legal cases brought by numerous parties in connection with the
Applications, both at first instance and, latterly, in the European
Court (see Global RNS of 14 January 2022) - the Company was also
awarded costs in all cases.
However, the Company will continue to monitor both the evolving
requirements of the application process and the wider legal and
political environment in Italy. If the Company is both ultimately
successful, and then decides to accept award of exploration
permits, it currently expects that it would seek a partner, prior
to any such award.
Peter Hill, Global Petroleum's CEO, commented:
"Regarding Italy, our current thinking is that it is worth
pressing on with the process, notwithstanding our reservations.
Apart from the great amount time and effort which the team at
Global have put into the applications over the years, plus the fact
that we have won all of the legal cases brought against us, from a
wider strategic perspective we note that since the substance of the
Hydrocarbon Plan was finalised by the Italian Government in late
2021, the energy supply situation in Italy and in Europe generally
has altered dramatically.
"In Namibia, although companies will naturally be looking first
at the Orange Basin, we are encouraged by the quality of the
parties who have shown interest in our farmout of PEL 94. Our
analysis is that there are very few attractive, available blocks in
the Orange Basin and there is great competition for them. We think
that Global holds one of the most prospective blocks in the
Namibian offshore for the reasons we set out in this Announcement,
and we firmly believe that our patience will pay off."
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7039P_1-2022-6-21.pdf
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7039P_1-2022-6-21.pdf
For further information please visit: www.globalpetroleum.com.au
or contact:
+44 (0) 20 3 875
Global Petroleum Limited 9255
Peter Hill, Managing Director & CEO
Andrew Draffin, Company Secretary
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nominated Adviser +44 (0) 20 7886
& Joint Broker) 2500
John Prior / Ailsa MacMaster
Corporate Broking: Hugh Rich
ETX Capital (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7392
Thomas Smith 1568
Tavistock (Financial PR & IR) +44 (0) 20 7920
Simon Hudson / Nick Elwes 3150
NAMIBIA - FURTHER BACKGROUND
TotalEnergies' Venus-1X well and Shell's Graff-1 and La Rona-1
wells are located in southern offshore Namibia, approximately 1,000
km to the south of Global's PEL 94 licence. PEL 94 covers an area
of 5,798 square kilometres in water depths ranging from 350 to
1,550 metres, as shown in Figure 2 below.
Total drilling depths in PEL 94 are much shallower than is the
case for the Venus discovery, leading to significantly lower
drilling and development costs should operations proceed to this
stage. Water depths are approximately 1,000 metres at both the
Marula and Welwitschia Deep prospects in PEL 94, against
approximately 3,000 metres at Venus-1X. The depth to drill from
seabed to the expected prospect depth is around 1,500 metres in PEL
94 compared to over 3,000 metres at Venus-1X.
The Company has identified a total of 9 prospects and leads
within the licence area (see RNS dated 26 January 2021 for more
details), with several in the largely unexplored eastern part of
the block. The two primary prospects - Marula and Welwitschia Deep
- are already defined by existing 3D seismic data and the Company
regards them as drill-ready.
Participating Interests in PEL 94
Global is the operator of the licence and the participating
interests are:
78% Global Petroleum Namibia Limited (100% owned subsidiary
of Global Petroleum Limited)
17% National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Proprietary)
Limited
5% Aloe Investments Two Hundred and Two (Pty) Ltd ("Aloe",
a private Namibian company).
Farmout
On 9 November 2021 Global announced that it had appointed an
advisor, PVE Consultants, to assist in the farmout of its Licence
PEL 94, offshore Namibia.
-ends-
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