Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Jan. 22-- Plectrum Petroleum PLC plans to acquire 2D seismic data this year on acreage off Tunisia and western Australia to underpin an intense exploration program.
Plectrum reprocessed 1,000-km of 2D seismic on the Nabeul exploration permit in Tunisia. Encouraged by the results, it increased the number of prospects to 12 from 4, attributing the rise to prospects on trend with the neighboring Oudna field, located 12-km to the west. Plectrum said it has "an improved understanding of prospect geometries and fault complexity."
Plectrum said it is looking for partners to farm into the prospect, which holds prospective oil resources of 126 million bbl and indicates further unrisked upside potential of 605 million bbl.
Executive Chairman Mike Whyatt, said: "We also hope to be drilling on the Nabeul permit in Tunisia in 2008."
Australia granted Plectrum frontier exploration permits WA-379-P and WA-380 for 18,730 sq km of acreage in the Bremer subbasin, off Western Australia. The company hopes to gather 2D seismic data spanning 3,300 km.
Plectrum also won an exploration contract for Block-Z34 in the Talara basin off Peru, which has produced more than 1.7 billion bbl of oil and 340 bcf of gas. The 3,713 sq km block is in 100-3,000 m of water.
Peru's state-owned energy company Perupetro SA has given the go-ahead, and Plectrum is now awaiting a supreme decree from the Peruvian energy ministry before it can move ahead with plans to undertake and submit an environmental impact assessment to collect seismic data in late 2007 or early 2008.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].
