BG Farm-In To Gulf Keystone’s Hassi Ba Hamou License Approved
Gulf Keystone on 8 January said the Algerian government had approved the farm-in by BG to the onshore Hassi Ba Hamou (HBH) license. Gulf Keystone, a US-UAE joint venture, announced last August an agreement, along with partner Sonatrach, to transfer 36.75% of the license to BG (MEES, 14 August 2006). Under the deal, BG will become operator, while Gulf Keystone will retain a 38.25% stake and Sonatrach 25%. HBH covers an 18,380 sq km area in the Bechar-Oued Namous Basin in central Algeria and includes Blocks 317b1, 322b3, 347b, 348 and 349b. It was awarded to Gulf Keystone in Algeria’s sixth licensing round in early 2005 (MEES, 18 April 2005). A seismic acquisition program has started in the HBH concession with 2,000km of 2D seismic to be acquired over the next 10 months, along with a 3D seismic survey covering 500 sq km.
Gulf Keystone also reported that the government had approved its contract for the Ben Guecha Blocks 108 and 128a, saying that its first three-year exploration and appraisal period would now commence. Work in the contract area requires the drilling of one appraisal well and one exploration well in the Ras Toumb field. The company said agreement had also been reached regarding development plans for the GKS and GKN oilfields in Block 126. Phased development operations are to begin in both, and Gulf Keystone will assume immediate ownership of ongoing oil production from well GKN-1. Also, its contract for Block 126a has been extended to allow for the testing of the GRJ-2 discovery, which is scheduled to begin during the second quarter of 2007.
