LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Africa-focussed oil and gas company Tower Resources updated the market on the progress of licence PEL 96 in Namibia on Friday, which includes offshore blocks 1910A, 1911, and 1912B.
The AIM-traded firm, as the licence operator, holds an 80% working interest in PEL 96.

It reported the completion of a comprehensive basin modelling study within PEL 96, aimed at enhancing the understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of the licence area.

The study involved integrating seismic sequence stratigraphic interpretation with large 2D seismic datasets, as well as well data from PEL 96 and other available well data in the Walvis Basin region.

Tower said the analysis of seismic data, well data, and basin modelling results provided compelling evidence of a functioning petroleum system within the Dolphin Graben, a geological trough, in PEL 96.

That evidence included the recovery of oil from cores in the 1911/15-1 well, and the observation of direct hydrocarbon indicators (DHIs) on seismic data.

The objectives of the basin modelling study were to assess critical elements of the hydrocarbon charging system, such as thermal maturity, distribution of generative source kitchens, volumetric estimation of generative capacity, timing of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion, and the mapping of migration pathways.

It said key findings from the basin modelling study included the identification and mapping of generative source kitchens within PEL 96.

The Lower Cretaceous syn-rift sediments in the main depocentres of the Dolphin Graben were considered mature for oil generation, both in the main and late phases, with timing estimated from mid-Tertiary (Oligocene) to the present day.

Additionally, migration pathways for oil charge were mapped, pinpointing the main areas where hydrocarbons had potentially migrated.

Volumetric calculations had been conducted for each source kitchen, estimating the volumes of hydrocarbons generated.

The company said the Alpha Prospect fetch area was projected to have generated 45 billion to 79 billion barrels of oil, while the Gamma Prospect fetch area was estimated to have generated around 15 billion to 23 billion barrels.

Tower said the basin modelling study also recognised the potential for stratigraphic traps on the 2D seismic data.

Those traps were characterised by Cretaceous reservoir targets onlapping onto highs along the western and eastern flanks of the Dolphin Graben.

It said that importantly, those potential stratigraphic traps were located along several of the main migration pathways originating from the generative kitchens.

They bore similarities to recent significant discoveries in South Africa and Namibia.

Tower Resources was currently conducting an oil seep analysis alongside the basin modelling work.

Additionally, the company said it was reviewing existing volumetric data on the already-identified prospects and leads within PEL 96.

"We are excited by the results of the basin modelling work and its indication of the prospectivity of Tower's licences in Namibia," said chairman and chief executive officer Jeremy Asher.

"It explains neatly the results of the Norsk Hydro well, the source of the lacustrine oil found within it, and the reasons why that oil found its way into that well and subsequently migrated away from it.

"The conclusions indicate the potential for either of the giant billion-barrel-plus structures in the West of the license to be charged; furthermore, the migration pathways, coupled with the recent impressive industry successes in drilling stratigraphic plays in the Orange Basin to the South, enhance our interest in the similar stratigraphic leads that we interpret on the flanks of the Alpha Prospect structure in particular."

At 1043 BST, shares in Tower Resources were down 7.53% at 0.04p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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