ADX Energy Ltd, oil and gas exploration and appraisal company, has been awarded the offshore exploration permit d 363 C.R-.AX by the Italian Ministry of Industry.
The awarded permit is on trend with ADX’s offshore Tunisian Kerkouane Permit and adjacent to its previously awarded d 364 C.R-AX license. ADX is the operator of the permit and holds a 100% interest via its fully owned Italian subsidiary.
The block is on the same structural trend as the proven onshore Cap Bon oil & gas fields in Tunisia, the large sized ADX 3D covered Dougga West and Elissa oil prospects n the Kerkouane block and contains – on trend – the Nlilde oil field inside the Italian license now awarded to ADX.
In addition to its excellent prospectivity, the area would also allow relatively smaller discoveries to be commercially developed. This is due to a combination of water depths predominantly less than 100 meters and the excellent fiscal regime in Italy.
The two Italian offshore blocks which are now held by ADX are situated in the so called “Terravecchia Foredeep” in front of the Tunisian Atlas thrust front, a geological sub-province of the extensive Italian foredeep and foreland area.
This prolific hydrocarbon province hosts a large number of Italy’s oil and gas fields, starting in the northern Italian Po Valley, continuing along the entire Adriatic Sea and through onshore and offshore Sicily into northern Tunisia. For a number of reasons more related to the vicinity of an international boundary than petroleum geology, very little seismic and drilling activity has been undertaken in the past in the areas close to the international border with Tunisia.
Shell and ADX have already acquired approximately 2,000 Km2 leading edge Geostreamer (dual sensor) technology 3D seismic surveys in their respective Tunisian and Italian licenses. As a result, ADX has now identified a number of large drillable prospects in its’ Kerkouane block on a geological trend which continues into the offshore Sicily area n Italy.