In July 2013, Ireland granted us Frontier Exploration Licenses 1-13, 2-13, and 3-13 pursuant to
Licensing Options 11/5, 11/7 and 11/8. The term of each contract is 15 years unless surrendered or
revoked, and is divided into an initial phase of three years, and three subsequent phases of four years
each. Relinquishment of 25% of the existing area is required at the end of the first phase and 50% of
the existing area at the end of the second phase. Three months before the end of each phase, we must
propose a work program for the subsequent phase for the approval of the Minister of Communications,
Energy and Natural Resources. The second phase work program must include an exploration well. The
contract area must be surrendered if a second exploration well has not been commenced by the end of
the third phase. Upon entering these Frontier Exploration Licenses, we and the other block partners
relinquished approximately 25% of the acreage covered by the Licensing Options.
We completed a 3D seismic data acquisition program of approximately 5,000 square kilometers
over these blocks and in the surrounding area in October 2013. The processing of this seismic data is
expected to be completed in 2014.
We are currently assessing prospectivity on license areas in Ireland, and accordingly information
concerning prospects, if any, on such recently acquired license areas is not yet available. We currently
are, and plan to continue, processing seismic information to assess the prospectivity for these license
areas.
Mauritania
In June 2012, we successfully acquired three new petroleum contracts offshore Mauritania. The
new petroleum contracts are Offshore Blocks C8, C12 and C13. We are the operator and hold a 90%
participating interest in all blocks. The initial period of each contract is four years and may be
extended to June 2022 at our election if certain requirements are met. We are currently in the first
exploration period of the blocks, expiring in June 2016. In the event of commercial success, we have
the right to develop and produce oil for 25 years and gas for 30 years from the grant of an exploitation
authorization from the government, which may be extended for an additional period of 10 years under
certain circumstances.
Offshore Blocks C8, C12 and C13 are located on the western margin of the Mauritania Salt Basin.
The blocks are adjacent to a proven petroleum system with the primary targets being Cretaceous
sediments in structural and stratigraphic traps. Available geologic and geophysical data has led to the
interpretation and mapping of possible Cretaceous basin floor fans in possible trapping geometries
outboard of the Salt Basin. The Cretaceous source rocks penetrated by wells and typed to oils in the
Mauritania Salt Basin are believed to be the same age as those which charge other oil and gas fields in
the Late Cretaceous of West Africa.
Mauritania is located in Northwest Africa and its continental shelf is part of the MauritaniaSenegal-Guinea Bissau (MSGBC) Atlantic margin basin. This is a Triassic salt basin which formed at
the onset of rifting and contains an overlying Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary passive margin sequence
of limestones, sandstone and shales.
A number of exploration wells have been drilled in shallow to moderate water depths in the basin
and have resulted in oil and gas discoveries in both Tertiary and Cretaceous aged features. One of
these, the Chinguetti Field is currently producing.
Our acreage is located outboard of the producing area in three licenses which vary in water depth
from 1,500 to 3,000 meters. These blocks cover an aggregate area of approximately 6.6 million acres
and are focused beyond the edge of the salt province on the basin floor where potentially reservoir
bearing Mid to Late Cretaceous aged stratigraphy has been identified on vintage 2D seismic data in
areas where there is evidence for trapping geometries. Our understanding of the blocks will be refined
with additional seismic data acquisition over the areas where a number of leads with considerable
petroleum potential have been identified.
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