The Seychelles government has approved the entry of PetroQuest Seychelles, an affiliate of Liberty Petroleum Corporation, as a new partner into two shallow-water blocks, Beau Vallon and Junon, controlled by Adamantine Energy. The government has also granted a 36-month extension to the petroleum agreement, extending the initial exploration phase through to September 2028. This partnership aims to secure an additional farm-in partner to fund exploration work that could lead to the first exploration well in the Seychelles in nearly 30 years.

Exploration Plan and Potential

If a third partner is secured, the joint venture plans to reprocess existing 3D seismic data and acquire new 3D seismic data at a total cost of approximately $15 million. If the results are positive, a wildcat well costing up to $26 million could be drilled using a jack-up rig. The blocks, covering a combined area of 9700 square kilometres in water depths up to 200 metres, are believed to be an oil play. A well-placed source indicated that "all the ingredients are in place" for an oil-prone system, citing the presence of a robust petroleum system evidenced by oil shows in historical wells, simple large traps, seals, and optimal timing for oil generation.

Historical Context and Current Prospects

Exploration in the Seychelles has been limited for decades, with the last wells drilled by Amoco in the early 1980s and by Enterprise Oil in 1995. Despite fleeting interest from other companies and the acquisition of ample seismic data, no new wells have been drilled. Current mapping has identified six drill-ready prospects and three additional leads across the two blocks. The structural feature called Jeyan is highlighted as an obvious choice to drill. The blocks are covered by more than 20,000 line kilometres of 2D seismic and 1500 square kilometres of 3D seismic data, with multibillion-barrel oil potential recognized.

Resource Estimates and Specific Work Program

The Beau Vallon block hosts two prospects and two leads with total mean resources estimated at 709 million barrels of oil equivalent. The Junon block holds five prospects and two leads with potential resources of 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The specific work program involves reprocessing 1500 square kilometres of 3D seismic over the Junon prospect at an estimated cost of $1.5 million, and acquiring new 3D seismic in Beau Vallon at a cost between $8.8 million and $14.1 million. Drilling a well in 70 metres of water to a target depth of about 4000 metres is estimated to cost about $20 million, with an additional $6 million for testing and coring.

Farm-Out Offer and Strategic Vision

Adamantine and PetroQuest are offering a farm-in partner 25% equity in the acreage for carrying the existing partners through the seismic work and recovering 25% of past costs. An additional 25% interest is available if a company is willing to carry the partners through the drilling of an exploration well. The partners express strong confidence in their technical and financial capabilities, stating that this collaboration brings renewed momentum to one of the most prospective frontier regions in the Indian Ocean and could create substantial economic benefit for the Republic of Seychelles and all parties involved.

This material is an AI-assisted summary based on publicly available sources and may contain inaccuracies. For the original and full details, please refer to the source link. Based on materials by Iain Esau. All rights to the original text and images remain with their respective rights holders.