Thursday 8 March 2018

Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad announced that the Australian National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (“NOPTA”) has granted the VIC/P57 Joint Venture a renewal term of 5 years from 7 March 2018 to 6 March 2023 for the VIC/P57 exploration permit located in the northwest part of the offshore Gippsland Basin. The permit is close to shore, in shallow water depths, and proximal to infrastructure.

The VIC/P57 Joint Venture comprises of Carnarvon Hibiscus Pty Ltd (“CHPL”), Gippsland Hibiscus Pty Ltd (“GHP”) and 3D Oil Limited (“TDO”). CHPL and GHP are indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of Hibiscus Petroleum, and the Hibiscus Petroleum Group (“Group”) also holds a 13% stake in TDO. In total, the Group has a 78.3% interest in VIC/P57.

VIC/P57 Prospectivity Review

Following 18 months of comprehensive prospectivity review by TDO, as commissioned by CHPL, the evaluation revealed significant remaining commercial potential within VIC/P57, with seven leads and prospects identified.

The Felix prospect, located between the Wirrah discovery and the Moonfish Field, is currently the lowest risk target with volumetric estimates for the entire structure resulting in a best estimate prospective resource of 24 MMbbls oil recoverable (16MMbbls within VIC/P57).

The review carried out also uncovered a new gas prospect, Pointer, within the high-quality reservoirs of the Latrobe Group. The Pointer prospect has been determined as the lowest risk gas target with volumetric calculations conducted for the entire feature resulting in a best estimate of 250 Bcf Recoverable gas (235 Bcf within VIC/P57). It is an additional benefit that Pointer is optimally located to rapidly deliver gas to a deprived east coast gas market.

VIC/P57 Work Programme

The work programme is designed to de-risk and high-grade the prospect inventory, particularly Felix and Pointer, to mature to drill-ready prospects, while assessing the potential for additional gas prospectivity within the stratigraphy of the permit. A key component of the technical programme includes seismic reprocessing with the following main objectives:

1. To determine the most likely structural configuration and oil & gas volume of the Felix prospect;

2. Provide a clearer understanding of the Pointer Amplitude Versus Offset anomaly; and

3. Assess the Emperor sub-group stratigraphy for additional gas prospects.