Dove entered this license through a Farmin agreement for a 10% interest in 2008. The assignment was approved by the government on 11th July, 2008. The state holds 50% of the license as a carried partner. Dove has recently increased equity in the license to 22.5% - pending state approval. The license is still in the initial exploration period of 3 ½ years and has two options to extend the exploration period. The commercial terms are the standard Tunisian “Convention” agreement. The interest is non-operated.

The initial work obligations required re-processing of 100km of vintage seismic date, the acquisition of 100km of 2D seismic data and the drilling of the first exploration well to 2,500m or the Neocomian formation. The re-processing and acquisition obligations were completed in 2009. A rig contract has recently been executed on behalf of the joint venture to drill the exploration well later in the year. Although Dove does not operate this license, Dove is managing the drilling project on behalf of the joint venture.

Setting

The northeast corner of El Fahs licence is located 40km south of Tunis and 60km west of the Zinnia field on the Gulf of Hammamet. The geology of the block is structurally complex, having been consolidated by Alpine tectonism during mid-Tertiary into the Tunisian arm of the Atlas fold-belt. The surface geology indicates a region of severe shearing, folding and flexure. An interpretation of the surface geology and main structural lineaments suggests a series of fold axes separated by high-angle, reverse-angle and inverted fault planes. This structural style further exhibits recumbent folding and imbricate (detached) fault planes, in addition to salt diapirism.

‘El Fahs’ licence is centred on the township of Tebersouk and in total extends to 3116km². The terrain varies from rugged to undulating to plain. It is well cultivated and mostly is easily accessible by metalled roads.

Prospectivity

At the time of Farmin, the block was at an immature stage of evaluation with some 340km of 2D legacy seismic data acquired between 1991 and 1996. Use of this data combined with other geological data indicated that three main areas of interest – the Mansour anticline, the Muarata anticline and the graben area. The existing data was insufficient to allow detailed prospect analysis and generate any drillable targets.

The Mansour fold is the largest on block and was drilled by in 1954. This well has proven the existence of hydrocarbons with shallow oil shows and deeper gas shows with gas produced to surface. The well location was selected based on surface structure alone and more recent seismic indicates the well was located at the margins of the subsurface structure. Due to the size of the structure and the presence of proven hydrocarbons, Mansour was the focus of the 2009 2D seismic acquisition. A total of 206 line km were acquired in August and September last year.

It is planned to mature the other 2 prospects, Musrata and the graben during the subsequent exploration periods. 

Current Work Programme

Recent work has focussed on the detailed interpretation of the Mansour fold. Over 350 line km of legacy data has been re-processed along with the processing of the new 206 km of new data. New maps have now been generated. The vintage logs from the 1954 Mansour-1 well have been interpreted using modern software and have been used to provide volumetric estimates for gas in place. A well location has been selected and well planning is now at the advanced stages. A local office has been opened in Tunis to plan and execute the well.