Fastnet’s onshore Moroccan asset could be worth €45m to Dublin firm

The onshore Moroccan asset partially held by Irish exploration company Fastnet Oil & Gas is likely to hold more than double the amount of reserves than first anticipated, and could be worth nearly $60 million (€45m) to the Dublin firm.

A newly completed independent survey (by SLR Consulting) of the onshore Tendrara-Lakbir licence in Morocco puts at 310.5 billion cubic feet of gas the best recoverable resource estimate, based on a 65% recovery factor.

The latest assessment of the prospect, in which Fastnet holds a near 38% net interest and shares ownership with the Moroccan Government and the Oil and Gas Investment Funds syndicate, also values Fastnet’s stake in the asset at $58m.

Fastnet managing director Paul Griffiths said the company is excited about the drilling of the Tendrara-Lakbir project, adding an appraisal well next year will be “an important step in validating the resource’s potential”.

Drilling at the prospect is likely to begin early next summer at what will be a busy time for Fastnet in Morocco. Its offshore shared asset — the Foum Assaka prospect — is due to be drilled in the first quarter of 2014.

The Dublin and London-listed explorer is also expected to announce details of a strategic partner to develop its Irish assets before the end of this year. The company recently received preliminary 3D seismic survey results, regarding its Celtic Sea assets, although these are yet to be communicated and are still being evaluated.

Fastnet plans to prove commerciality at each of its licences — in Morocco and Ireland — before selling them, individually, and returning the proceeds to shareholders.

The company hopes to sell out of the Foum Assaka prospect first, sometime towards the end of 2014.

It will not be until around the second quarter of 2015 that first drilling gets under way at its assets in Irish waters.