Independent Resources Ksar Hadada (IRKH) has assumed 100% of the contractor interest in the Ksar Hadada hydrocarbon exploration permit onshore Tunisia.
After completing the submission to Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières (ETAP) and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines to facilitate the withdrawal of its minority partners, the company is now the sole contractor in the production sharing contract.
IRKH urged ETAP to submit an application to the permitting authority Direction Générale de l’Energie (DGE) for a one-year extension to the permit, which covers an onshore area of 2,252km² in south-east Tunisia.
Independent Resources CEO Greg Coleman said: "We are pleased to have increased our interest in the Ksar Hadada permit and will continue to seek a farm-in partner.
"IRKH will now have greater flexibility to agree new commercial arrangements with interested parties and in the short-term will have a reduced administrative burden as sole contractor.
"We have been engaged in ongoing discussions with ETAP in order to prepare our application for an extension."
The company will now continue to plan for the acquisition of 3D seismic in order to prepare its drilling programme and advance talks with potential farm-in partners.
The Ordovician Bir Ben Tartar quartzite and the Silurian Acacus sandstone are the primary targets on the Ksar Hadada block and are sourced by the basal member of the Silurian Tanezzuft shale.
In April 2014, Blackwatch Petroleum completed an independent third-party evaluation of the permit, which estimated gross recoverable resources of 108 million barrels of oil equivalent.
