Ann: Transerv Funded to Progress Opportunities in 2017, page-21

I got this article from the West Australian today. It includes comments by our MD

Shares in Transerv Energy have taken off after the company announced it had received a $9.3 million tax refund from the Federal Government.
Transerv said the payment was for successfully qualifying for funding its portion of the Warro gas project under the Government’s Research and Development Tax Incentive Program.
Managing director David Messina said the funds provided the company with substantial funding resources with which to continue work on the Warro project and progress other oil and gas opportunities in 2017.
Transerv is in a joint venture with Alcoa over the Warro project.
Earlier this month, Alcoa wrote off $US52 million ($72 million) from the value of its investment in the onshore gas field in the Perth Basin north of Perth.
However, Transerv said Alcoa and AWAC partner Alumina had approved the project’s 2017 budget.
AWAC in 2008 signed a farm-in agreement for Warro, near Moora, with a view to developing a long-term power source for its WA refineries.
The field has a tight gas formation thought to contain several trillion cubic feet of gas. However technical issues have thwarted the project.
Alcoa said the $US31 million charge to its interest in Warro followed its Australian subsidiary determining that completed exploration activities did not support the current carrying value.
Alumina’s share of the impairment was $US21 million.
AWAC holds 43 per cent of the project. Its interest is expected to reach a cap of 65 per cent when the remainder of a $100 million budget is exhausted.
Drilling has been suspended at Warro while a technical review is conducted. Excessive amounts of water in the gas has meant the wells drilled are not economic.
“Both Transerv and Alcoa would have liked to have seen more from the most recent drilling program in 2016, ” Transerv managing director David Messina said.
“There’s still more work to be done to really understand what’s happening with the field.”
No drilling is expected to take place this year, with most of the work devoted to studies and analysis.
“There hasn’t been any dry wells,” Mr Messina said.
“The water can be managed. It’s an engineering challenge, frankly, as much as a geological one.
“It’s worth working through to make sure that before we walk away, we’ve made sure we exploited all options and frankly we’re not there yet.”
Aside from Warro, he said Transerv was on the hunt for “unloved assets” this year.
The West Perth company’s bid to buy Perth Basin assets of Origin Energy failed last month when Origin called off the sale.
Transerv shares up 0.4 cents, or 44.44 per cent, to 1.3 cents at the close after hitting an intraday high of 1.8 cents.