South Atlantic Petroleum Limited has reached agreement with Marex MC Inc. (MAREX) to purchase a 90% participating interest in the Belo Profond Production Sharing Contract (PSC), which is situated in deep water offshore Madagascar, in the Mozambique Channel.
The transaction is subject to the approval of the Madagascar government and following completion, SAPETRO will assume operatorship of the block while MAREX retains the remaining 10% interest.
The Belo Profond block, which covers an area of 13,770 km2 is in water depths of 1800m to 3,000m and is adjacent to the Juan de Nova Permit in which SAPETRO recently reached agreement to purchase a 75% interest from ROC Oil (subject to approval of the French authorities). This large block contains a significant portion of a new deep water exploration province adjacent to ENI and Anadarko's recent major discoveries in East Africa. Modern seismic data indicate that the block contains substantial thicknesses of favorably structured Tertiary and Mesozoic sedimentary packages throughout the acreage and remote sensing studies have indicated areas of hydrocarbon seepage. SAPETRO intends to aggressively explore Belo Profond with new broadband seismic and geochemical acquisition programs beginning later this year.
Commenting on the transaction, SAPETRO’s Chief Executive Officer, Martin Trachsel stated, “Entry into Belo Profond is a further addition to SAPETRO’s exploration portfolio in Africa and reflects our commitment to establishing presence in the continent through focused exploration activities. We have been studying the geology and geophysics within the vicinity following our recent acquisition in Juan de Nova and can confirm existence of equally interesting plays which provide excellent opportunities for exploration. We very much look forward to commencing operations in Madagascar the fourth country in which we have a presence.
