Chariot Secures Rig for Drilling Offshore Namibia

Chariot Oil & Gas Limited has signed a drilling rig contract with Maersk Drilling for a one well drilling slot using the Maersk Deliverer ultra deepwater semi-submersible rig offshore Namibia.

The rig is expected to arrive on location at the end of March 2012 and that the drilling of the Tapir South prospect will commence shortly thereafter, with Chariot as Operator.

The Tapir South prospect, part of the Tapir trend, is located in Chariot’s Northern Block 1811A which is 100% owned by the Company. The prospect has a 25% chance of success and gross un-risked mean prospective resources of 604 MMbbl. The well will be located 80km offshore Namibia in 2108 metres of water with a drilling depth of approximately 5100 metres total vertical depth subsea (“TVDss”).

The exploration well on Tapir South is estimated to take approximately two months to drill and is the first well in Chariot’s 4 to 5 well 2012/2013 exploration programme within its highly prospective acreage offshore Namibia. A second  exploration well, Kabeljou-1, is expected to be drilled in Chariot’s Southern Block, 2714A, on the Nimrod prospect in the second half of 2012. Subsequent to the results of Tapir South, Kabeljou-1 and interpretation of Chariot’s recently acquired 3500 km² 3D seismic in its Central blocks, the remainder of its initial drilling programme will be determined and further wells planned for 2013.

Paul Welch, CEO of Chariot, commented:

“We are extremely pleased to have concluded this drilling rig contract with Maersk and to provide an anticipated spud date for our first exploration well offshore Namibia. Despite the tight rig market we have secured an excellent drilling rig for  the Tapir South prospect with a highly reputable contractor. This will be only the second well ever to have been drilled in the Namibe Basin and we look forward to commencing our operations and updating the market with our progress in due  course.”

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Offshore Energy Today Staff, March 6, 2012; Image: Maersk Drilling