Global Opens Namibia Data Room for New Partners

Global Petroleum Limited , the oil and gas exploration company presently focused on emerging plays in Africa, today announces that a data room has been opened for selected prospective partners.

Global previously announced on 31 October 2012 in its quarterly Report its intention to farm down the 85% interest which Global holds in its  Namibian licence, ahead of further exploration. The farmout process is being managed by the Company’s recently appointed Exploration Manager, Chris Lewis, who has now completed a review of all 2D data purchased or acquired by the Company on the two blocks covered by the licence.

A reconnaissance grid of more than 2,000 kilometres of 1990’s 2D seismic data over both blocks was purchased in July 2011 and was  subsequently interpreted.

The interpretation of this data confirmed the presence of two leads and accordingly, Global commissioned a high resolution 2D seismic  acquisition programme of some 2,000 kilometres over the acreage, which commenced in September 2011. The new data confirmed the  presence of the two large structures, while also revealing some further potential leads. The completion of this 2D seismic programme by Global marks the fulfilment of the work obligations for the Initial Exploration Period of the Licence, which runs to December 2014. Notwithstanding this, Global intends to press ahead with the exploration of its acreage, commencing with the acquisition of 3D seismic post farm-down.

The structural prospects identified are both anticipated to contain a thick, Albian to Aptian age, carbonate reservoir within a fault controlled trap, sealed by overlying deep marine shales. These carbonates were penetrated in two nearby wells drilled during the 1990s and had a gross reservoir thickness of some two hundred metres. Adjacent to the prospects is a deep graben, thought to contain source rocks that have generated hydrocarbons. Within, or close to, the blocks there are oil slicks on the ocean surface, hydrocarbons recovered from seabed cores, evidence of hydrocarbons on 2D seismic and oil and gas shows in a nearby well which all provide positive evidence for the generation and migration of hydrocarbons. Therefore there is every indication of a working petroleum system in this part of the Walvis Basin. Current internal estimates of mean prospective resources for each prospect are greater than one billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Landward of the structural prospects, sedimentary features are clearly visible on the seismic data showing the potential for the development of  sandstone reservoirs within stratigraphic traps. A large Late Cretaceous delta is clearly evident from seismic, which will provide the source of significant volumes of sand, confirmed by the sandstones intersected in nearby wells and in the recent Tapir South well. Several stratigraphic leads have been mapped, along two independent fairways, with the potential to contain significant resources. The well to be drilled by Repsol in the adjacent block during late 2013 or early 2014 will provide valuable information on the potential of one of these stratigraphic fairways.

Peter Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Global Petroleum, commented: “Namibia remains a highly prospective, and under-explored, frontier province. Interest from the international oil and gas industry has increased significantly over the last couple of years, resulting in a number of new licence awards to, and farm-ins by, large multinational operators. With at least one operator preparing to commence a drilling campaign during the first half of the year, 2013 should see a significant amount of activity in Namibia. Our own decision to bring in a partner will reduce risk but still deliver upside for shareholders in a success case.”

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Press Release, January 14, 2013