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Fastnet Oil & Gas
Fastnet Oil & Gas plc is an independent oil and gas exploration company focused on identifying early stage exploration and appraisal opportunities in Offshore Ireland and Africa. It is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and the Enterprise Securities Market (ESM) of the Irish Stock Exchange. Fastnet has its operating headquarters based in Dublin, Ireland.
Fastnet Oil & Gas agrees ‘high impact’ Morocco acquisition
The Morrocan acreage 23 identified prospects that are said to be consistent in scale with producing West African fields.
Fastnet Oil & Gas (LON:FAST) is the latest explorer to join the hunt for oil offshore Morocco.
The newly listed firm, backed by members of the Cove Energyteam, today revealed that it has now sealed its first deal as it bought a stake in a high impact exploration venture.
Paying an initial US$8 million it is acquiring an 18.75 per cent stake in a venture led-by Kosmos in the Agadir basin.
The acreage contains 23 identified prospects that are said to be consistent in scale with producing West African fields. And interpretation of new seismic, shot this year, is expected to add ‘significant additional resources’.
Fastnet says there is an opportunity for near-term ‘high impact’ drilling. And it also says that industry interest in the region provides the company with a ‘prudent option’ to farm-out some of its acquired stake.
The first well is slated for next year.
“Through this acquisition, we are exposing our shareholders to near term drilling activities offshore West Africa in a very exciting frontier basin,” said chief executive Dr Stephen Staley.
“We are pleased that we will be working with Kosmos and will benefit from the tremendous experience they have gained through discovering and quickly bringing into production the Jubilee Field offshore Ghana – a field which shares similar geology to the acreage in the offshore block we are acquiring today.”
The deal structure sees Fastnet acquiring Pathfinder Hydrocarbon Ventures Ltd. It is initially paying US$1 million in cash and it will issue US$7 million worth of Fastnet shares (40.6 million shares priced at 11p each).
Fastnet also receives an option to acquire a 50 per cent stake in the Merada exploration licence area, which contains an ‘exciting and underexplored’ gas play that has been successfully tested by Repsol andCircle Oil. The option lasts for twelve months.
The company is led by directors of Cove Energy and it joined AIM last month. It is focussed on two geographic regions Africa and offshore Ireland.
Shortly after listing Fastnet confirmed that it had been issued new exploration licences in the Celtic Sea, offshore Ireland, and with today’s deal it has now landed its first African asset.
John Craven, Fastnet shareholder and Cove Energy chief executive, today said: “As a shareholder, I am supportive of Pathfinder’s Moroccan West African fan play and confident that Fastnet can forge a strong relationship with Kosmos, a company that has enjoyed a huge amount of success offshore Ghana.”
Fastnet this morning said it will have £8.9 million remaining in cash once the Moroccan deal is closed and it is fully funded until at least the end of next year for its minimum work commitments – though this excludes the potential exercise of the Merada option.
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