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Whitebark in search of Xanadu
A bunch of hardy oil and gas explorers are about to roll the dice on securing their own little bit of idyllic magnificence with the drilling of the Xanadu-1 exploration well, all of 920m offshore in the Perth Basin.
The low-cost well is to be drilled from an onshore location in State waters, and the bit is expected to be whirring away towards its target on the weekend or thereabouts.
It is certainly worth a shot as Xanadu-1, operated by Norwest (NWE) which has a 25% free-carried interest, is testing a prospective recoverable resource of 160 million barrels of oil (best estimate), with success in the main target zone rated as a 13% chance.
Good on ‘em for having a crack. It’s just the sort of thing junior oil and gas explorers need to be doing to attract investor while the great wait for a rebound in oil prices continues. It will be off to the races if Xanadu comes in anywhere near the best estimate, regardless of the current dour oil price.
Triangle Energy (TEG) is earning a 30% interest in the joint venture, as is 3C Group. But today’s interest is in the group earning 15% interest in the well, Whitebark Energy (WBE), formerly Transerv.
As the company put it, its involvement in Xanadu-1 is all about giving shareholders a mix of reliable, low-risk production from its growing Canadian production base, along with highly prospective but affordable exploration upside.
Whitebark has been trading at 0.9c, giving it a market cap of $7.5m. Its involvement in Xanadu-1 is more than covered by its cash kitty of about $5m. The “what next scenario’’ if Xanadu proves elusive is also covered by the Canadian oil business. And it has a 57% stake in the big but “tight” undeveloped Warro gasfield, a joint venture with Alcoa.
