Madagascar Oil makes progress on Tsimiroro block plans

Madagascar Oil has received two decrees containing amendments from government agencies for the production sharing contract (PSC) of its Tsimiroro block in Madagascar.

The exploration period of the PSC has been extended, while progress has been made towards developing and securing a title for a 25-year exploitation period.

The company has until early November 2014 to submit a development plan for Tsimiroro, which was declared commercially viable earlier this year.

Madagascar Oil said it continues to work on the Tsimiroro development plan and is on track to submit to the Office des Mines Nationales et des Industries Stratégiques (OMNIS) ahead of the 4 November 2014 deadline.

Madagascar Oil chief operating officer and general manager Stewart Ahmed said: "We are having ongoing constructive discussions with OMNIS on the structure and approach to our development plan and welcome the opportunity to obtain early feedback on our proposals on the way forward on this exciting project."

PSC 3104 is located about 125km from the west coast of Madagascar. The Tsimiroro field was first drilled in 1909 and 14 degree API oil was discovered at a depth of 40m to 300m.

Drilling campaigns by various operators added 75 wells to the field, but it was difficult to define the reservoir correlations.

Madagascar Oil began working on the field in 2006, discovering Tsimiroro’s significant heavy oil resource volume.

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Image: The Tsimiroro field was first drilled in 1909. Photo: courtesy of Madagascar Oil.