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The company did not identify the members of resources of 14.7mn barrels of crude, is antici-
the syndicate, but it did say that it had agreed to pated to come on stream in the first quarter of
hedge part of its future crude oil production as a 2023. Initial production rates are likely to top
condition of the loan. 10,000 barrels per day (bpd), since the field taps
To this end, it explained, about 40% of first- the same reservoirs as the adjacent Baúna and
year output will be hedged, along with around Piracaba fields within BM-S-40. The project
30% of second-year output. should lift total yields from the block above
Patola, which contains 2C contingent 30,000 bpd. ™

PARAGUAY
President Energy signs farm-out

agreement on Pirity concession

AIM-LISTED President Energy reported earlier
this week that it had arranged to reduce its 100%
stake in the Pirity concession in Paraguay under
a farm-out deal.
In a statement dated June 8, President said
it had signed an agreement on the transaction
with a company based in North America. It
did not identify the other party, saying that it
intended to maintain confidentiality until the
deal was concluded. But it described the North
American firm as a “substantial” state-owned
investor that had set up a special purpose vehicle
in order to join the project.
The farm-out deal calls for President to
transfer a 50% equity stake in Pirity to its part-
ner, while continuing to serve as operator of the The company will drill an exploration well at Pirity (Image: President Energy)
project. In exchange for this asset, the North
American company will pay President Energy than 1,000 km of 2-D seismic data and 850
$4mn and assume 60% of the costs of drilling a square km of 3-D seismic data from the block
new exploration well that is due to be spudded in 2013-2014 and then proceeded to drill two
and drilled to a depth of 3,750 metres in the first exploration wells.
half of 2022. (The parties have already agreed on These wells “identified a petroleum system
the site where this well is to be drilled.) in the north of the block with significant shows
According to the statement, the cost of drill- of hydrocarbons whilst drilling, [but] no com-
ing this well is likely to reach $10-15mn. The mercial production was achieved,” the state-
shaft will target a set of subsurface prospects ment said. President then decided to focus on
known as Delray, which is estimated to con- the Delray complex, which appeared to be more
tain more than 260mn barrels of oil in mean prospective than the original target.
unrisked resources. President has put the Peter Levine, the chairman of President,
chances of success at this site at 30%. indicated that his company hoped to be able to
The Delray complex is the section of Pirity use oil from the Pirity concession to produce
that is most similar in geological terms to Pal- refined fuels for Paraguay’s domestic market.
mar Largo, a group of fields about 100 km away Currently, he noted, the country must import all
in Argentina. “It has been determined that of of the petroleum products it consumes via barge
the usual exploration factors to be taken into shipments up the Plate River.
account, there is good reservoir rock present in “We have in this regard a significant joker
Delray [that is] capable of prolific production if in our pack of cards through the possibilities
charged and an excellent four-way closure with which will be no doubt available through our
seal, with the main exploration risk being migra- second-largest shareholder Trafigura, one of
tion from the hydrocarbon source,” President the world’s leading commodity traders, whose
noted in its statement. associated company in Paraguay, Puma, is an
The company has been working at Pirity important importer of fuel into the country and
since 2012. It carried out an exploration pro- has there an extensive and significant network of
gramme that involved the collection of more retail filling stations,” Levine explained. ™

Week 23 10•June•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11