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Circle Oil
Signs Agreement for Mahdia Permit With Tethys Oil
06-19-2008
Circle Oil Plc
announces the signing of a farm-in agreement to the Mahdia Permit offshore
Tunisia with Tethys Oil and Mining Ltd. The Mahdia permit covers an area of 3780
square kilometres and is bounded by the Nabeul Permit to the north and the
territorial boundary with the island of Lampedusa (Italy) to the east.
Historically the geology and potential of this and the surrounding offshore area
was successfully explored by Shell and Total and previous exploration has
resulted in discoveries and commercial oilfields including fields such as
Tazerka, Birsa, Oudna, Halk El Menzel and Isis.
Following the farm-in, Circle will hold a 70% working interest in the permit.
Circle will become operator once the acquisition of 500 kilometres of additional
2D marine seismic is complete, prior to the commencement of any drilling in the
permit. The permit commitments require the acquisition of 500 kilometres of 2D
seismic in the first two years of the licence which commenced July 2007 and the
drilling of one commitment well in the subsequent three years to 2012. The
permit contains multiple undrilled prospects which have already been mapped from
the existing datasets. The additional seismic will be used to enhance ranking
and prioritization of these prospects prior to drilling.
Commenting on the results David Hough, CEO of
Circle Oil, said:
"We are particularly pleased to be able to announce this farm-in offshore
Tunisia. The acreage is well known to two of our senior management who worked
this geology in their earlier careers. Many of the main undrilled prospects in
Mahdia are already mapped and this play has proven success. These prospects
remained undrilled due to their size and historic lower oil prices, but they are
now very commercial. With good potential reserves they are now definitely worth
pursuing. The farm-in further enhances our position in Tunisia and the region
generally. We are pleased to be a part of the effort to establish Tunisia as a
substantial oil producer.”
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