APT Acquires Scirocco’s 25% Interest in Ruvuma Concession

 ARA Petroleum Tanzania Limited (APT), a subsidiary of The Zubair Corporation, is a 50% interest holder and operator of the Ruvuma oil & gas concession (Ruvuma Concession). In agreement with Scirocco Energy PLC (Scirocco), the APT has announced its decision to exercise its pre-emption rights to acquire Scirocco's 25% interest in the Ruvuma Concession. Upon completion, APT’s interest in the Ruvuma Concession will increase from 50% to 75%. The parties will endeavour to complete the disposal by 31 December 2022.

Sultan Al Ghaithi, Chief Executive Officer of ARA Petroleum

Commenting on the acquisition, Sultan Al Ghaithi, Chief Executive Officer of ARA Petroleum said, “The acquisition of Scirocco’s interests underlines our strategy to reinforce our portfolio with greater stake in high-quality assets and strengthen our long-term presence in Tanzania. It also reaffirms our confidence in the asset and commitment to continue supporting the region’s oil and gas industry.”

The Ruvuma Production Sharing Agreement (Ruvuma PSA) was granted in 2005. The Ruvuma PSA comprises the Mtwara Licence which contains the Ntorya Appraisal Area over the Ntorya gas condensate discovery. The Ntorya gas-condensate discovery, made in 2012 with the drilling of Ntorya-1 (NT-1) well, was the most immediate commercialisation opportunity in the Ruvuma PSA at the time. Following on from NT-1, an up-dip well, Ntorya-2 (NT-2), at a location approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the discovery well was drilled in 2017.

APT was established in 2018 to accelerate the development of the Ntorya area. The exploration activities picked up momentum in 2021 with APT acquiring working interest from Ndovu Resources Ltd. and becoming the operator of the project. APT initiated a 3-D Seismic acquisition in the block earlier in 2022 for an area that covers 338 km2 and is planning to drill one more exploration/appraisal well during this exploration period. The information gathered from these activities will provide a more accurate estimation of the gas reserves and gas quality in the area.