Predator to Drill for Moroccan Gas in 2020
London-listed Predator Oil & Gas has secured a rig option contract with Canada’s Star Valley Drilling for an exploration campaign onshore Morocco, it said in a statement on December 9.
The option gives the two companies until January 31 2020 to negotiate a binding contract for a rig to drill a 2,000-metre well at the Moulouya-1 prospect at Predator’s Guercif permits. If a contract is finalised, Star will have between March 15 and April 30 to mobilise the rig. Mobilisation and drilling should take no more than 30 days to complete.
The Guercif permits cover 7,269 km2 of acreage which Predator believes is on trend with the Rharb basin some 250 km west, where SDX Energy has been producing shallow gas for several years.
Predator operates the permits with a 75% interest, while its state-owned partner ONHYM has 25%. The company hopes to drill either an appraisal or follow-up exploration well after completing Moulouya-1, to take advantage of having a rig already onsite.