Pura Vida’s Research Shows More Potential in Nkembe Block

Pura Vida Energy NL has announced an upgrade to its prospective resource assessment of the Nkembe PSC, offshore Gabon. Further technical work undertaken by the Company has revealed a significant new play in the pre-salt within the Syn-rift interval where carbonate Coquinas reservoirs are anticipated to be present.

The inclusion of newly identified prospects increases the total gross mean unrisked prospective resources on block to 1,680 mmbo, 1,344 mmbo net to Pura Vida. The carbonate play is analogous to similar plays that have resulted in the discovery of several billion barrels of discovered oil offshore Angola and offshore Brazil.

Pura Vida’s technical work has also identified several areas which contain multiple stacked prospects that have the potential to be attractive drill candidates that could be tested with a single vertical well.

Commenting on the positive results of this technical work, the Company’s Managing Director, DamonNeaves, said: “Our recent technical work on the Nkembe block has yielded an exciting new play resulting in a significant increase in the resource potential. As our understanding of the geology of the Nkembe block has developed we have come to recognise the block has the potential to unlock value through a number of alternative pathways. At this time, industry interest in Gabon is running high with significant drilling activity ongoing and a very competitive deep-water bid round recently completed. We are therefore focused on securing funding from the industry to undertake the exploration activities required to unlock the potential value of the block.”

Pura Vida has identified several areas within the Nkembe block that contain multiple stacked targets. The drilling of stacked targets provides the ability to test prospects at differing stratigraphic levels through a single vertical well. Intersecting multiple prospects saves on drilling costs, increases the overall chance of making a commercial discovery, and in the event of success, allows for potential aggregation of resource potential.

The Moveni region in the south-western part of the block contains stacked prospects at the Gamba, Dentale and Syn-rift carbonate levels which have a net mean prospective resource un-risked potential of 286 mmbo and 603 mmbo respectively. A single well at this location has the potential to test a combined net prospective resource of 890 mmbo.

Similar stacked prospects exist in the shallow water area at the Palomite cluster in the south-eastern part of the block where the Pompano and Dentex prospects directly overlie the larger and significant pre-salt level referred to as Palomite Deep.

Of particular interest to Pura Vida is the Pompano prospect within the Palomite cluster, where stacked targets from the Batanga, Lower Anguille and the Cap Lopez lie directly above the Palomite Deep pre-salt play where the Gamba, Dentale and the Syn-rift carbonates are stacked. The combined net mean prospective resource, un-risked, potential of Pompano and Palomite Deep is 320 mmbo.

The Loba Oil Field also overlies the Loba Deep sub-salt target which provides an opportunity for a combination of a lower risk appraisal well for a production test of the post-salt Loba discovery with a test of the Loba Deep sub-salt exploration target.

Press Release, June 23, 2014