The following articles were published in an Oil & Gas Magazine from 1997 to 2002. I will be posting other articles leading to the signing of the Petroleum Licence in separate mails. -------- Gambia gets bit between teeth after reshuffle 30.01.1999 THE GAMBIAN government is in a hurry to see a raft of preliminary studies of the tiny west African country's long-neglected offshore patch turn into solid action with the drillbit, writes Barry Morgan. A Cabinet reshuffle last weekend saw four ministers lose their portfolios, including petroleum supremo Dominic Mendy. His replacement as Minister of Trade and Industry, Musa Sillah, is a former central bank economist and pro- business technocrat. Insiders believe he will be highly supportive of the exploration drive. Key meetings are slated early next month in the capital Banjul as Perth-based West Oil's technical co-operation agreement comes up for renewal and two fellow Aussie explorers press to bring in partners to prove up licensed acreage. Very encouraging preliminary results from West's reprocessing work are said to point to a switch to a full petroleum production licence to allow further exploration, according to sources. Satellite-based oil seepage studies conducted by West's partner and geophysical consultant Ikoda have now been evaluated. West retains rights of first refusal on the near- shore acreage. Any exploration period under a full licence is likely to be limited as so much work has already been completed under the technical agreement, according to a ministry official. The first extension period will likely involve a two-well commitment while the second extension period will also have two wells, suggested the source. The only current licence in Gambia was signed last year by a joint venture between Perth outfits Hardman Resources and Balmain Resources. The initial optional period expires in June The Aussies are busy scouting for partners to assist in the commitment well pledged for the second period. Candidates will likely come from Canada as Balmain's sister company Golden Gate Resources is listed on the Vancouver exchange. Further offshore, Geco Prakla has the next few months to devise a programme for non-exclusive 2D and perhaps 3D seismic beyond water depths of 1000 metres under a promotion deal inked late last year with the ministry. French intermediary SGAT has just introduced Compagnie Generale Geophysique to Banjul, even proposing an agreement to shoot non-exclusive surveys in the deep offshore. This cannot happen unless Geco waives its option. ------------------------ Geco to promote Gambia's show 20.06.1998 SCHLUMBERGER'S seismic outfit Geco-Prakla looks set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Gambia's Department of Trade, Industry and Employment next week to reprocess and market the country's offshore data and promote its acreage to international suitors, writes Barry Morgan from Banjul. Government sources say the deal may emerge in tandem with a separate service agreement to shoot fresh seismic, thus opening the way for serious exploration of this long-neglected west African play. Should plots currently held under technical co-operation agreements fall vacant in the future, Geco- Prakla would act as agent for the acreage. Talks on the draft are understood to be well-advanced although the contract duration has not yet been discussed. The work scope of the proposed seismic will depend on Geco- Prakla gaining pre-commitments later this year from companies already in the frame for Gambian acreage. Perth-based West Oil has rejigged the initial area covered by its nine-month technical co-operation agreement since the deal was signed in February, releasing both deep-water acreage and shallow water plots closer to shore. West Oil must decide in the fourth quarter whether to go for a petroleum production licence on part of the play, which would be favourably received , and it is thought that Geco could negotiate a speculative survey in this area. London's TM Worldwide subsidiary Planet Oil, in a joint venture with Perth-based Balmain Resources, is apparently keen to snap up most of the shallow water in depths between 40 metres and 60 metres, leaving sizeable tracts available on the northern border with Senegal but only a slither of free acreage towards Casamance. Sources indicate that a deal is expected within a fortnight. Planet may eventually extend its putative plot to include scattered patches of acreage in deeper water presently located in West's demarcated turf. Again, a pre-commitment to Geco's proposed shoot may help smooth negotiations towards a technical agreement that have been ongoing for many months. ------------------------- Aussies set up exclusive bite at virgin west African play West Oil wins key to Gambia 21.02.1998 AUSTRALIAN explorer West Oil has signed a technical co-operation agreement with Gambia that gives it the opportunity of a clear run at a substantial west African offshore play. The Perth-based company will compile a data package and complete an evaluation of Gambia's offshore prospectivity under the nine-month deal agreed last week with the country's Department of Trade and Industry. In return, West will get the option to choose its patch and could subsequently gain the exclusive right to apply for an exploration licence over part of the offshore area. It is understood the Gambian government would then be free to use the technical study to promote the remaining areas to other suitors. The co-operation pact was signed together with UK-based Fusion Investments, which is linked with West Oil on a number of African ventures, and with fellow west Australian geophysical consultancy Ikoda. The latter is contracted to perform technical work in Gambia. Several structural and stratigraphic prospects have already been identified by West and the company believes specialised reprocessing and depth conversion studies will help firm up existing leads and guide future data acquisition. Gambian Commissioner for Petroleum Kabar Jawara says the country already has an established petroleum code with model licences in place for both reconnaissance and E&P activity. Profit tax on oil is pegged at 35% and the royalty rate, initially set at 12.5%, is negotiable. Most conditions are negotiable and for now there is certainly no upward revision of terms envisaged, he said. The country has recently seen a lot of interest from both exploration and seismic companies , Jawara added. BP was the first to shoot seismic in the 1950s, following it up with two onshore wells in the early 1960s. Chevron later set a deep-water record in 1978 by drilling the country's only offshore well, Jammah-1, in 2254 feet. Some 7000 kilometres of seismic has been shot offshore, mostly by Petro-Canada in the 1980s. A similar co-operation deal involving the same companies was struck late last year with the international body set up in Dakar to supervise the formerly disputed joint maritime zone between neighbouring Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. West Oil's deal with the Dakar- based Agence de Gestion et de Co-operation entre la Guinee-Bissau et le Senegal (AGC) has still not been finalised, it is understood, largely due to Bissau's reluctance to get drawn into the civil war north of the border. The joint zone hosts the shallow Dome Flore field, reported to contain up to 900 million barrels of 10-degree API oil that is mostly biodegraded. Venezuela's state outfit PDVSA remains interested in deploying heavy oil recovery techniques to produce Dome Flore but talks have reportedly stalled on cost analyses of the project. Industry observers suspect a prolific petroleum system in the area and satellite indications of active offshore seepages to the north have lately revived the search for mature oil-prone source rocks. West Oil is keeping up in the race here. Company representatives are understood to have been sounding out Senegal state oil outfit Petrosen about accessing the offshore area between the joint zone and Gambia. This is possible because Houston's Benton Oil & Gas is now engaged in negotiations with Petrosen over selected offshore permits following its own option deal, inked last year, covering tracts in water up to only 500 meters deep. Separatist elements in the southern Senegalese province of Casamance have turned to violent rebellion in recent weeks, issuing threats to foreign tourists and businessmen. However, the primary oil interest is offshore. West Oil's next bid, if successful, could win the Australians exclusive rights to a contiguous sprawl of prospective property in one of the region's most lightly explored areas. Western Geophysical has just completed a non-exclusive deep-water seismic shoot off Senegal and may now be planning to extend the survey to meet growing regional demand, sources say. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~