New Zealand Oil & Gas has taken another step into Tunisia, paying US$3 million ($4 million) to Canadian oil and gas company Chinook Energy for a 40 per cent stake in an overseas oil play with proven and probable reserves equivalent to some 6.3 million barrels of oil.
The farm-in
to the Cosmos South project, in the Gulf of Hammamet, sees NZOG equal partner with Chinook, while the remaining 20 per cent is owned by the Tunisian state oil company, ETAP, which is also contributing its share of development costs, according to the Chinook website.
First oil from the project could be flowing as early as 2014, assuming a final investment decision is made towards the middle of next year.
At that point, NZOG will be committed to another US$19 million of development costs in what its new chief executive, Andrew Knight, says is "a near term, low risk development opportunity, with both production upside and exploration potential".
The Chinook website puts the total cost of developing up to two producing wells and a single water injection well at between C$130 million ($166 million) and C$150 million.
