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Company Profile
Tower Resources is an AIM-listed, London-based, independent oil and gas exploration company with a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The company held 100 per cent licences in Namibia and Uganda, parts of which it has farmed out, through its two operating subsidiaries, Neptune Petroleum (Namibia) and Neptune Petroleum (Uganda).
Uganda is one of the exploration hotspots at the moment and Tower will be hoping that the current run of success experienced by other in-country explorers continues into its acreage. Namibia is less advanced but on the basis of technical work done so far some very large structures will be targeted for further investigation.
Onshore Block EA5 in northern Uganda extends over 6,000 sq kms and is at the northern end of the Albertine Graben. A regional gravity and magnetic survey has identified that Block EA5 contains one of the five identified sedimentary depocentres (or basins) within the Albertine Graben. EA5 contains the Rhino Camp Basin.
Tower believes that some considerable encouragement can be drawn from the significant discoveries, drilled by Hardman (which was taken over by Tullow) in Block 2, some 150 km to the south of Block 5 and the significant Kingfisher discovery further south in Block 3. Further appraisal of these discoveries is ongoing but they are multi-million barrel finds.
Furthermore, 200 km to the north of Block 5, the tertiary shales of the Muglad rift basin of Sudan have been shown to be a major source of oil in the Unity and Heglig fields. It would seem unlikely that the Rhino Camp Basin would, therefore, be devoid of potential source rocks.
There is considerable anecdotal evidence to support the seepage of oil to surface within the Licence and surveys are continuing to establish the physical evidence of this.
Tower is well advanced with its plans for this asset. An agreement with US group Orca Exploration provides for Orca to repay 83.33 per cent of past costs and to fund 83.33 per cent of future costs related to current seismic. Their share of seismic costs is capped at US$5 million based on the current planned size of the programme. Orca then has an option to participate in the two well commitment programme, becoming a 50 per cent licensee on making that commitment, providing 83.33 per cent of the cost of the two wells. There are agreed caps on Orcas share of the well funding - US$10 million for drilling costs and US$5 million for any testing operations.
The programme is to record 285 kilometres of 2D seismic (this is shallow, tertiary territory). Once prospective targets are identified it is planned to drill two wells in 2008.
In Namibia, Tower had 100 per cent of Blocks 1910A, 1911 and 2011A, offshore Namibia, which covers a vast area of approximately 22,000 sq kms in water depths ranging from 200 to 3,000 metres. This amounts to one block and two contiguous part blocks. This is real frontier territory and Towers plans are less advanced here than in Uganda.
These blocks are little drilled, although Norsk Hydro drilled two wells, both of which turned out to be dry holes. Tower has been looking elsewhere in the north of the licence.
Tower has concluded a farm out agreement with Arcadia Petroleum. Under the terms of the farm out agreement Tower retains a 15 per cent stake carried through a programme of 2D and 3D seismic and two wells. In the event that the farminee, or any assignee of their rights and obligations, opted not to pursue the full programme, the full licence interest would revert to Tower.
So far a 700 km programme of 2D seismic has been completed and will now be subject to AVO analysis. It is hoped that a further 3D seismic programme will be completed by the end of 2008. The structures involved are huge, possibly containing multi tcf prospects.