Rawson Resources to acquire petroleum prospecting licence in Papua New Guinea

Rawson Resources has signed an agreement to acquire Moira, which currently has a 100% working interest in Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) 391 in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

With the latest transaction, Rawson will have a growing North PNG coast exploration portfolio.

Furthermore, the acquisition allows the company to secure high-growth in the PNG market.

As consideration, Rawson will issue a 10% stake to Moira shareholders in Dondonald.

PPL 391 contains mapped oil and gas seeps, as well as oil production from the Matapau wells and provides a working petroleum system.

The Matapau wells targeted the shallow fractured basement and there is further potential in a carbonate reef play that may extend south-east from PPL 549, in which Rawson also has 100% interest.

The work programme will initially focus on understanding the structural and geochemical aspects of the Matapau accumulation.

The transaction is subject to government regulatory approval.

Rawson has individually announced that the company received PNG PPL 549 from the Minister for Petroleum and Energy.

The company has a 100% interest in the licence, which has been awarded on a six-year term, which can be further extended for another six years.

Rawson also has two other petroleum licence applications under consideration by the PNG regulatory authorities.

APPL 550 represents a low-risk play close to the existing Stanley, Elevala, Ketu, Tingu and Ubuntu discoveries on the Fly River Platform, while APPL 560 contains potential having previously been independently assessed with a mean potential resource of 6.5 Tcf.

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Image: PPL 391 location map, North New Guinea Basin, Papua New Guinea. Photo: courtesy of Rawson Resources Limited.