Sound Oil has been granted a 30-day period from the OGIF (Moroccan Oil and Gas Investment Fund) in relation to a potential farm-in to the Tendrara licence.
The grant of exclusivity helps initiate negotiations between the company and OGIF and comse after an indicative offer letter regarding
the onshore licence.
Subject to a final agreement, Sound Oil will acquire a 55% net working interest and operatorship of the Tendrara Licence.
James Parsons, chief executive officer of Sound Oil, said: “This transaction is our first transformational deal in pursuit of our Mediterranean gas strategy.
“The Tendrara asset, with two existing discoveries and resource potential of multiple Tcf, has a very attractive risk / reward profile, builds on our core technical and commercial strengths in Milan and dovetails perfectly with our Italian portfolio.
“We look forward to updating shareholders on the conclusion of negotiations and the exciting potential of the enlarged portfolio.”
The onshore licence includes two stranded gas discoveries and covers eight blocks across a total of 14,500 sq kms in the North East of Morocco.
The underlying Trias Argilo-Gréseux Inférieur (TAGI) reservoir is a continuation of the Algerian Triassic Province capped by salt and underlain by Paleozoic source rocks.
Seven wells have been drilled on the Tendrara Licence to date, of which five discovered hydrocarbons and two were tested successfully.
The licence already has 4,400 kms of 2D seismic and 500 sq kms of 3D seismic.
The Tendrara Licence is currently owned 75% by OGIF and 25% by ONHYM (The National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines) the Moroccan national hydrocarbon and mineral company – which has a 25% carried interest during the exploration phase.