Tethys Oil AB, Stockholm, has agreed with Odin Energi AS to acquire interests in Lithuanian oil companies UAB Minijos Nafta and UAB LL Investicos.
MN holds the Gargzdai license producing more than 700 b/d of 42° gravity oil from more than 6 million bbl of proved and probable reserves. LLI holds the Rietavas and Raiseiniai licenses with known oil deposits and large exploration upside. All licenses are onshore and cover a combined 4,000 sq km of the Baltic basin.
The interests will be held through Odin group companies, giving Tethys a net indirect interest of 25% in MN and 20% in LLI.
Together Tethys and Odin will have 50% of the shares in both MN and LLI. The remaining 50% of MN is owned by Lithuanian company Geonafta, part of the Polish Lotos group. The other 50% of LLI is owned by private interests.
Gargzdai covers 900 sq km in western Lithuania and has produced 15 million bbl from Cambrian sandstone reservoirs. Proved, probable, and possible reserves exceed 12 million bbl. A reservoir study suggests that the reserves could be greatly increased with the use of modern alternative oil recovery techniques. The license also holds major unconventional hydrocarbon potential, including exposure to Silurian-Ordovician shale sections.
Rietavas covers 1,600 sq km near Gargzdai with a known oil discovery in Cambrian sandstones. Rietavas is unexplored. Raiseiniai, with an areal extent of more than 1,500 sq km, covers an unexplored trend of Silurian reefs similar to, but expected to be of larger size, compared to the Ordovician reefs found on Gotland. The Silurian-Ordovician shale section is present also in Rietavas and Raiseiniai.
