Eco Atlantic Farms into 20,000km2 Block 1 Offshore Orange Basin South Africa / Namibia Border to hold 75% Operated Interest
TORONTO, ONTARIO / ACCESSWIRE / June 5, 2024 / Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (AIM:ECO)(TSXV:EOG), the oil and gas exploration company focused on the offshore Atlantic Margins, announces the Farm-In into Block 1 Offshore South Africa Orange Basin. Through its 100% owned subsidiary Azinam South Africa Limited ("Azinam"), the Company will farm-in and acquire a 75% Working Interest ("WI") from Tosaco Energy (Proprietary) Limited ("Tosaco") and will become Operator of a new Exploration Right (the "Acquisition"). Tosaco intends to transfer its remaining 25% Interest to OrangeBasin Oil and Gas (Proprietary) Limited - a newly formed South African entity with a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment ("B-BBEE") rating.
About Block 1 Acquisition: Block 1 is 19,929km2 in area and is located on the Namibian Border in South Africa. The triangular shaped block is located offshore in the Orange Basin. The Eastern side of the block is approximately 174km off the South African shoreline, and the block reaches out some 263km West into deep water in the Orange Basin.
Terms of the 75% WI Farm-in Acquisition are as follows: US$150k payable upon signing, US$225k payable upon issuance of Section 11 (Government title transfer) and US$375k payable upon a TSX-V/AIM compliant Resource Report to be commissioned by Eco. The Company will carry the remaining 25% Interest through the Budget and Work Program for the first three years up to an agreed sum of US$2.3 million of a total work program.
The block has significant 2D and 3D seismic data already completed and no additional seismic acquisition or drilling of wells is planned in the three-year carried period. During this period, Eco will complete the interpretation and analysis required for its planned Work Program with its in-house exploration team. The Farm-in is subject, inter alia, to normal Governmental approvals and no field activity is currently planned that requires environmental permitting.
Block 2B Relinquishment: Further, the Company confirms that it is relinquishing its 50% WI Operated offshore Block 2B in South Africa where it drilled its 2022 Gazania-1 well offsetting the AJ-1 oil discovery. The Company has completed all necessary documentation, and environmental audits, and has informed the Petroleum Agency of South Africa ("PASA"), being the regulator for the Government of South Africa. Eco's board considers Block 2B a non-core asset in the portfolio given the Company's interests in Namibia, Block 3B/4B and Block 1 in SA and in Guyana. Following acceptance by the PASA of this relinquishment, the Company will have no further liability in respect of Block 2B.
Colin Kinley, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Eco Atlantic, commented: "The Orange Basin continues to prove to be one of the newest and most prolific plays in the world and is running similar statistics to our Guyana play. Following completion of this Farm-in, Eco will have one of the largest blocks in the entire Orange Basin. This is a strategic play for Eco that we have worked on over the past year, focussing on both Oil and Gas potential, and where we believe there are significant near shore prospective gas resources. There are inboard gas discoveries on the block, Kudu to the North, and multiple discoveries in the Ibhubesi field to the South. With the reach of the block some 250km out into the Atlantic, this puts the West end of the Block into highly prospective opportunities for oil being just South and on trend with Shell's Graff discovery and Galp's Mopane discoveries, and North of our 3B/4B Block oil targets recently farmed out to TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy."
Figure 1: Eco Atlantic's South Africa Acreage
**ENDS**
For more information, please visit www.ecooilandgas.com or contact the following:
Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas
c/o Celicourt +44 (0) 20 8434 2754
Gil Holzman, CEO Colin Kinley, COO Alice Carroll, Executive Director
Strand Hanson (Financial & Nominated Adviser)
+44 (0) 20 7409 3494
James Harris James Bellman
Berenberg (Broker)
+44 (0) 20 3207 7800
Matthew Armitt Detlir Elezi
Celicourt (PR)
+44 (0) 20 7770 6424
Mark Antelme Jimmy Lea
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended).
About Eco Atlantic:
Eco Atlantic is a TSX-V and AIM-quoted Atlantic Margin-focused oil and gas exploration company with offshore license interests in Guyana, Namibia, and South Africa. Eco aims to deliver material value for its stakeholders through its role in the energy transition to explore for low carbon intensity oil and gas in stable emerging markets close to infrastructure.
Offshore Guyana, in the proven Guyana-Suriname Basin, the Company operates a 100% Working Interest in the 1,354 km2 Orinduik Block. In Namibia, the Company holds Operatorship and an 85% Working Interest in four offshore Petroleum Licences: PELs: 97, 98, 99, and 100, representing a combined area of 28,593 km2 in the Walvis Basin. Offshore South Africa, Eco holds a 20% Working Interest in Block 3B/4B, in the Orange Basin, totalling some 20,643km2.
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