Centurion Energy International and Petro-Canada have singed a Funding Agreement covering the Mellita Exploration Permit located offshore Tunisia and owned 100 percent by Centurion's wholly owned subsidiary Ecumed Petroleum.
Under the terms of the agreement Petro-Canada Mellita, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petro-Canada, will become operator and will fund 100 percent of the cost of an exploration program, up to $13.5 million, in return for a 72.5 percent interest in the 845,000 acre permit.
The exploration program will consist of up to 2274 kilometers of 2D marine seismic, 75 kilometers of 2D land seismic and the drilling of two exploration wells; one offshore and one on Djerba Island. This transaction is subject to final approval by the Tunisian authorities.
ETAP, the Tunisian State Oil Company, has the right to elect to participate for up to 50 percent in the development of any discoveries made on the permit. In the event of a discovery, Centurion and Petro-Canada would be reimbursed for exploration costs equal to ETAP's participating interest and ETAP would pay its share of future development costs.
The land seismic has already been acquired and the marine seismic program is currently underway with completion expected during the first week of September. Following processing and interpretation of the seismic, drilling locations will be selected and drilling is likely to be conducted as early as the first half of 2004.
Petro-Canada is one of Canada's largest oil and gas companies, operating in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry in Canada and internationally. Centurion has been an active exploration and production company in Tunisia and Egypt for many years through wholly owned subsidiaries. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
