Chariot Sees Opportunities due to Oil Price Decline

Chariot says it is in a strong position to take advantage of opportunities arising from the impact of the low oil price.

Junior explorer Chariot Oil & Gas said Thursday that it is in a strong position to take advantage of opportunities arising from the impact on the wider sector of the recent decline in the price of oil.

The firm, which holds a diversified portfolio of what it described as "long-term, low-cost" assets, is debt free and has a strong cash position with $53.5 million on its balance sheet at the end of December.

During the course of 2015, Chariot expects several wells to be drilled by its partners in Morocco, Mauritania and Namibia. It noted that 10 wells are set to be spud in the Barreirinhas Basin, Brazil, during the next three years.

Chariot said its technical team is continuing to work hard to mature assets towards drilling and has completed its interpretation of its proprietary 3D data offshore Mauritania, with four drill-ready prospects identified – each with more than 400 million barrels of gross mean prospective resources.

In Morocco, following the finalized interpretation of the company's 3D data during the first half of this year, a partnering process is expected to be carried out. An audit will also be carried out on the Rabat Deep licenses, where Chariot has prepared its JP-1 prospect for a data room should Woodside choose not to elect to carry the company through the drilling of a well – a decision that is due by the end of June 2015.

Chariot also pointed out that seismic data acquisition programs are scheduled for this year offshore Brazil and Namibia with the aim of de-risking the company's portfolio through the maturation of previously-mapped prospectivity on legacy datasets – as well as to identify follow-on potential in a success case. The firm said that ongoing partner discussions regarding the opportunities in Brazil and Namibia will continue.

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