ASX Announcement
EMPIRE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED
Level 7, 151 Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000
T: 02 9251 1846
F: 02 9251 0244
(ASX: EEG) (OTCQX: EEGNY)
10 August 2016
MCARTHUR BASIN - EMERGING TAWALLAH GROUP PLAY
INCREASES PROSPECTIVE P50 RESOURCE TO MORE THAN 2 BILLION BARRELS OF OIL EQUIVALENT
The Directors of Empire Energy Limited (ASX: EEG; Empire) are pleased to provide an update following a recent review of the emerging Tawallah Group source rock play in the McArthur Basin of the Northern Territory.
The Tawallah Group source rocks are a relatively new identified resource of oil and gas potential which underlie the highly prospective Barney Creek Shale (McArthur Group), the major focus of the development program, previously announced by Empire.
Recent studies have confirmed oil and gas generative potential in two Tawallah Group shale horizons, namely the Wollogorang and McDermott Formations. These are shown in the map above, with each formation covering around 1.7 million acres in EP184 & 187.
Core from a number of mineral wells (historical and recent) have been sampled and analyzed showing that these formations contain good source rock in the oil to wet gas generative window, based on total organic carbon (TOC) measurements of up to around 7.0% along with organic geochemical markers.
Further, recent analysis demonstrates how the Tawallah Group shale characteristics compare favorably to other McArthur Basin organic shales, and to the formation characteristics of both the Marcellus and Utica shales. Formation characteristics are summarized below.
Source: AEP
Continued work programs will be directed to further enhance the understanding of these prospective horizons. Work completed to date has enabled Empire to confirm that the Wollogorang Formation provides an additional 1.4 million acres of potential petroleum targets. The prospective area was discounted by 90% (Geological Factor) due to uncertainty of information including thermal maturity and thickness of the organic facies throughout the region.
Based on the discounted volumetrics, calculations of an additional potential resource (unrisked) for the Wollogorang increases total Prospective Resource P50 by an estimated 240MMBoe, shown in the table below. Further work will be untaken in relation to the McDermott Formation which lies beneath the Wollogorang, as shown on the map above which would add an estimated additional 1.7 million acres of potential petroleum shale targets to the Company's prospective resources.
"Prospective Resources" is the estimated quantities of petroleum that may potentially be recovered by the application of a future development project(s) relate to undiscovered accumulations. These estimates have both an associated risk of discovery and a risk of development. Further exploration appraisal and evaluation is required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially moveable hydrocarbons.
Notes to Resources
- The scope of the Resource Study reviewed basic information to prepare estimates of the prospective resources.
COMPONENT PERSONS STATEMENT
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Name
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Organisation
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Qualifications
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Professional Organisation
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Wal Muir
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Fluid Energy Consultants
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BSc,MBA
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PESA
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The information in this report which relates to the Company's reserves is based on, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation prepared by or under the supervision of the following qualified petroleum reserves and resources evaluators, all of whom are licensed professional petroleum engineer's, geologists or other geoscientists with over five years' experience and are qualified in accordance with the requirements of Listing Rule 5.42:
*PESA: Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia
None of the above evaluators or their employers have any interest in Empire Energy Group Limited or the properties reported herein. The evaluators mentioned above consent to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.