Political and country risk comes in all shapes and forms, but for Range Resources, managing the intense media speculation surrounding the security and tenure of its agreements with the State of Puntland, must be an overwhelming job. This greatly alleviates Range Resources' cash requirements for exploration drilling, as the company is free carried - yet leaves it with a meaningful stake if a commercial discovery is announced. But as luck would have it, rather than calm investor concerns, the Africa Oil joint venture, itself, has become an area of intense speculation, mostly consisting of unfounded rumours that they may pull out of the deal.
On the contrary, Africa Oil has remained committed to the joint venture, and has mobilised seismic crews ahead of carrying out the first of the four-well drill programme. The joint venture has been hit by delays, partly due to the problem of importing equipment via ports in Somalia, where security is a major issue - and piracy on the open seas is not uncommon. But the time is rapidly approaching for the first well in eighteen years to be drilled in Puntland, which is bound to continue to generate all sorts of wild stories in the press.
There was one positive update recently from Range Resources. Liban Bogor, Managing Director, announced that he had resigned from his post to work exclusively for the Puntland Government on "various initiatives". Range said that it considered the move as a positive step for the joint venture, as Mr.
Bogor would be aiming to take into account the interests of "all stakeholders" in Puntland. It has therefore been determined that additional testing of these zones in the previously drilled Shabeel well is also not warranted. Based on the encouragement provided by the Shabeel wells, the Operator Horn Petroleum Corporation and their partners, Range Resources and Red Emperor, plan to enter the next exploration period in both the Nugaal and Dharoor Valley Production Sharing Contracts 'PSC's which carry a commitment to drill one well in each block within an additional 3 year term.
The current operational plan would be to contract a seismic crew to acquire additional data in the Dharoor Valley block and to hold discussions with the Puntland Government to gain access regarding drill ready prospects in the Nugaal Valley block. The focus of the Dharoor seismic program will be to delineate new structural prospects for the upcoming drilling campaign. Keith Hill, President and CEO of Africa Oil, commented, 'While we were disappointed that we were not able to flow oil from the first two exploration wells in our Puntland Somalia drilling campaign, we remain highly encouraged that all of the critical elements exist for oil accumulations, namely a working petroleum system, good quality reservoirs and thick seal rocks.
We look forward to working with the Puntland government to move our exploration project to the next phase which will likely require us to focus on prospects in different areas of the basins. Horn Petroleum to Commence Drilling Program in Puntland Thursday, August 04, Horn Petroleum is currently in final preparations to commence the historic and highly prospective two well drilling campaign in the Dharoor Valley Block in Puntland.
Range Wraps Up Ops at Tx. Cotton Valley Well Wednesday, April 27, Range announced that it has reached total depth in its Ross 3H exploratory well, the Company's first horizontal drilling venture.
Tuesday, March 15, Range and its partners prepare to plug the Ross 3H 1 Well before initiating horizontal drilling operations. Production Stabilizes at Range's Russell Bevly Well Wednesday, March 09, Range announced that production on the Russell Bevly 1 well has begun to stabilize following the successful fracture stimulation of the lower two zones.
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