Pursuant to the agreement, the Office Nationales des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), a hydrocarbon company of the Kingdom of Morocco, retains a 25% carried interest through the exploration stage. ONHYM has the option to convert this carried interest into a 25% working interest in any hydrocarbons that are developed.
The Tarfaya block, which comprises eight individual contiguous exploration permits totalling more than 15,000sqkm, is situated approximately 600km southwest of Morocco’s capital city, Rabat. The permits lie between Morocco and the Canary Islands and extend from the Moroccan coast to water depths of up to 800 metres.
Under the terms of the agreement, DVM will spend $1m over the next 2½ years. The company said that it has also committed to reprocessing a selection of the existing 19,000km of 2D seismic data and 500sqkm of 3D data that has already been acquired over the permit area. It also intends to drill three exploration wells over a four year term.
The company said that the Tarfaya block has seen extensive exploration investment, with large 2D and 3D seismic databases available. With only four exploration wells drilled to date, the block is underexplored. The permits were relinquished by the former owners in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Within the permits, a number of prospects have been mapped by previous explorers, with one structure alone defined as having the potential to contain a billion barrels of oil in place. DVM will be working to mature this and other seismically defined structures, and will seek to drill a well in one of the permits as soon as possible, said the company.
