The Joint Ventures that operate these four permits consist of: OMV Australia Limited 30% and Operator ENI Australia Limited 30% Octanex Group 40% The four permits, which cover an aggregate area of approximately 37,795 km², are on the northern margin of the Exmouth Plateau, 300 to 400 kms north-west of the Western Australian coastline (see the location map below). The Exmouth Plateau is the largely unexplored deepwater frontier of the Carnarvon Basin, Australia’s largest petroleum basin which includes the giant gas resources of the North West Shelf (Rankin Trend), the Greater Gorgon region and Io/Janz. In August 2007, three Octanex Group companies entered into four separate Joint Ventures (“JV’s”) with OMV Australia Limited (“OMV”) and ENI Australia Limited (“ENI”), one relating to each of WA-362-P, WA-363-P, WA-386-P and WA-387-P. The Octanex Group now holds an aggregate 40% interest in all of these permits and in their respective JV’s. As part of the farmin arrangements, whereby OMV and ENI acquired their interests and the JV’s were established, the Octanex Group companies agreed to assign a 60% interest in each permit for a monetary amount while retaining a 40% interest. For their part, OMV and ENI agreed to acquire and process sufficient 2D seismic data in each permit that would meet all the current and future seismic work obligations for all four permits. From the outset, OMV and ENI indicated their intention to comprehensively explore these four Exmouth Plateau permits and, to that end, they have acquired approximately 7,407 km of new 2D seismic data, known as the Klimt 2D Seismic Survey. These data are currently being interpreted for the JV’s by OMV. The next decision point for OMV and ENI is that by 1 January 2010 they must commit to the drilling of a well in any one of the permits or re-assign their entire 60% interest in all four permits back to the Octanex Group. Under the terms of the farmin agreement, OMV and ENI also have the right to earn a further 20% interest in each permit from the Octanex Group companies by electing to commit to a well in a permit and agreeing to meet all the costs of the first two wells that they may elect to drill in that permit. This would leave the Octanex Group with a residual 20% interest in each permit where such a commitment has been made. The final leg of the farmin arrangements provides that, if the Octanex Group does not wish to participate in a well (i.e. by being carried through its share of drilling costs) that OMV and ENI may elect to drill at their discretion on any one of the four permits, the Octanex Group has a right, exercisable within 60 days of receiving a formal notice from OMV and ENI of their intention to drill a well, to elect to assign the 40% interest in the relevant permit to OMV and ENI for US$16,000,000. This option is available to the Octanex Group in each of the four permits.
OXX Price at posting:
31.0¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
