Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, Sept. 3 -- Recently listed DMV International, Perth, has signed a heads of agreement with unlisted fellow explorer Sphere Petroleum Pty. Ltd., also of Perth, to acquire a 20% interest in four West African permits.
Blocks 1 and 5B are off Guinea-Bissau, and Blocks 8 and 10 are onshore Mali.
In addition, DMV has an option that must be exercised by yearend to increase its interest in all four blocks to 50% and a further option to acquire equity in a fifth exploration project.
Guinea-Bissau Block 1 is in shallow water less than 200 m deep in an area of geological salt movement. There are shows and subeconomic accumulations in adjacent areas, including the Dome Flore biodegraded oil field to the north, which possibly contains 1 billion bbl of oil.
Guinea-Bissau Block 5B straddles the shallow-deepwater area where seismic work indicates some large leads in potential Cretaceous reservoirs similar to those that contain oil accumulations elsewhere off West Africa.
Mali Block 8 is on the southeastern rim of the Taoudeni basin, and exploration there is targeting the late Proterozoic fractured carbonate plays. The 2D seismic data indicates two large anticlinal trends.
Mali Block 10 is in the Gao basin where oil shows have been recorded and more seismic is planned.