Pontia Pty Ltd is looking for a partner in its western Eromanga Basin exploration licence PEL 71. Pontia is offering majority equity plus the option for operatorship in return for funding an exploration well within the permit to target conventional oil.  PEL 71 is located approximately 25 km west of the proven Cooper Basin oil fairway which extends from the Hoplite discovery to the north, down to Butlers in the south. This fairway hosts Upper Jurassic to Early Cretaceous reservoirs predominately in the Birkhead and Namur formations. From 48 conventional oil fields, the fairway has produced over 40 MMbo since 2002, with approximately to same yet to be produced. Existing infrastructure includes connecting pipelines operated by Beach, Senex and Santos to the Moomba Station.  PEL 71 was awarded on 4 November 2012 and covers an area of approximately 6,130 sq km within the borders of South Australia. The licence entered a further suspension period in March 2018 which is scheduled to end on 25 September 2018. Currently, the remaining work programme includes two exploration wells and 50 km of new 2D seismic acquisition. Without a partner, Pontia may look to suspend the licence further or look towards publicly funding an exploration programme in a more favourable commodity pricing environment. However, South Australia remains flexible in licencing terms, whereby Pontia could request to relinquish part of PEL 71 to reduce the capital exploration spend required and minimise the work programme in the final two terms. The licence is scheduled to expire on 25 September 2021.  The licence contains three exploration wells. The Mulapula 1 well, drilled by Delhi Petroleum in 1986, encountered the Birkhead and Hutton formations around 1,200 m and 1,360 m. Log interpretations indicated a 5 m oil column which was not tested, and as such, an accumulation would have been uneconomic in 1986. Pontia believes that the well lies on the direct oil migration pathway from the Cooper Basin, west to PEL 71, with further oil prospectivity on the south-east flank of the licence area.  To prove up and de-risk further exploration, new 2D seismic data will be required in the area between the Mulapula 1 oil indications and the recent oil discoveries on the western flank of the Cooper Eromanga Basin. New data would tie in with the existing vintage Mulkarra West, Crater and Mulapula 2D data sets.    Companies interested in pursuing these opportunities should contact:  Jim Durrant  Phone: +61 419 419 005     Email: Jim.durrant@bigpond.com
Pontia Pty Ltd is looking for a partner in its western Eromanga Basin exploration licence PEL 71. 