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Going, going…:Fastnet nearing Foum Assaka farm-out
Fastnet Oil & Gas
Eoin O’Cinneide
Mystery player signs initial agreement with Irish junior over potential stake in offshore play
Irish junior Fastnet Oil & Gas is closing in on a farm-out agreement for its acreage off Morocco with a deal hoped to be in place early next year.
The Dublin- and London-listed player has signed an exclusivity agreement with an unidentified preferred bidder concerning the potential farm-out at the Foum Assaka exploration licence in the Agadir basin.
Fastnet holds a 25% gross and 18.75% net interest in Foum Assaka, which is operated by Kosmos Energy. Kosmos used to have a 56.25% net interest until UK supermajor BP last month farmed in to Foum Assaka to the tune of a 26% stake. The remaining 25% is held by Moroccan state energy company ONHYM.
Fastnet acquired the stake after buying Pathfinder Hydrocarbon Ventures in July 2012 for $8 million, a buy that also gave it a 12-month purchase option on the onshore Merada licence in Morocco, which it subsequently took up.
Fastnet had said in June that it was looking to farm out a portion of its stake, with a number of “multi-national and national oil companies” showing an interest.
The Foum Assaka licence, covering some 6478 square kilometres, consists of four exploration permits.
