Madagascar

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 12 – Niko Resources Ltd., Calgary, said a 10,000 sq km multibeam bathymetric survey is under way and set for completion in March 2010 on the 16,845 sq km Grand Prix block offshore northwest of Morondava, Madagascar.

Between March and April, seabed coring will occur at sites determined by the multibeam survey. The coring will use Niko’s patented SeaSeep technology. A 3,000 sq km 3D seismic survey is to start in April, and the company plans to drill an exploratory well in the second half of calendar 2012.

The block lies in shallow water to 1,500 m of water. Niko is earning a 75% interest in the block by funding the 3D seismic program and drilling as many as two exploratory wells.

The block, downdip from a multibillion barrel onshore oil deposit, has multiple play types in rocks of Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary geologic ages.