http://www.oilbarrel.com/nc/news/display_news/article/aminex-has-a-busy-q4-2009-with-wells-in-egypt-and-tanzania/860.html
October 20, 2009
Aminex Has A Busy Q4 2009 With Wells In Egypt And Tanzania
The final months of 2009 should prove interesting for investors in Aminex, who, after January’s announcement of a successful well on the South Weslaco field in Texas, have endured a rather dull year. Now, however, the AIM company, which is due to appear at oilbarrel.com’s October 28 conference, is drilling ahead in Egypt, where the South Malak-1 well is being deepened after encountering thicker than expected zones in the Miocene, and gearing up for the December spud of the high impact Likonde-1 wildcat alongside African exploration big hitter Tullow Oil.
This should make up for the dearth of activity over most of 2008 and 2009. Despite holding a promising footprint in the emerging exploration play of East Africa, Aminex has been stymied by funding constraints: in this, the small cap E&P is not alone. The lack of activity has, however, proved frustrating for investors: since the high hopes of the early 2008 Kiliwani North-1 gas strike in Tanzania, there has been little activity in East Africa, with the 22 month period seeing just two successful wells in Texas – at South Weslaco and Alta Loma - and two dud wells in Egypt.
This could be about to change, however. The third Egyptian well on the WEEM-2 concession in the onshore Gulf of Suez region is being deepened in the most promising indication from this exploration campaign to date. Even so, there is not too much for investors to shout about: Aminex has just a 10 per cent stake in the South Malak-1 well, although its costs are free carried so that any discovery is all upside for the AIM firm.
Then there’s the long-awaited spud of the Likonde-1 well in the Ruvuma Basin in southern Tanzania. This is one of the jewels in the Aminex portfolio and following a fundraising earlier this year, the company has the cash to fund its share of the costs (Aminex has a 50 per cent interest). The area has attracted increased industry investment in recent years, with super-independent Anadarko Petroleum committed to drilling seven wells on its acreage on the Mozambique side of the basin. The US firm has described the Ruvuma Basin as a look-alike of the Gulf of Mexico or Niger Delta, a comparison that will have Aminex shareholders salivating.
Investors will also be hoping for some near term newsflow from the Nyuni licence, home to that 2008 gas strike at Kiliwani North. The discovery was announced in early 2008 and later tested at 40 million cubic feet per day. Although the find lies close to the producing Songo Songo gas field, development has been stalled by lack of capacity at the existing production facilities.
Recent seismic over Songo Songo Island should provide better definition of the Kiliwani North structure while reprocessing of existing seismic over other prospects on the Nyuni licence is said to be well-advanced, with a number of prospects almost drill-ready. Any indication of reserves at Kiliwani North and the potential upside in nearby prospects would be welcomed by investors, particularly as Aminex last month increased its stake in the Nyuni licence by 10 per cent to 50 per cent.
Under the terms of an agreement with licence partner EAX, Aminex transferred its 25 per cent interest in Blocks L17 and L18 offshore Kenya and paid US$1 million in cash, a deal that values the additional 10 per cent stake in Nyuni at US$1.7 million. The move consolidates Aminex’s position at Nyuni where there is near-term development potential and removes the exposure to a higher risk exploration play in Kenya. There are also hopes that plans to expand the gas plant at Songo Songo will shortly receive the regulatory go-ahead, paving the way for the development of Kiliwani North.
Investors may have had a long time to wait but the coming months should make up for that, with the spudding of Likonde-1 in particular likely to inject some momentum behind the share price.