Chariot Oil & Gas Limited, the Atlantic margins focused oil and gas exploration company, reports that the farm-out signed between its wholly owned subsidiary, Chariot Oil & Gas Investments (Morocco) Ltd. and a wholly owned subsidiary of Eni, which was detailed in the announcement of 30 March 2016, has now been approved for the Rabat Deep Offshore permits I-VI by the Moroccan authorities. As a result of this approval, operatorship of these permits has been transferred to Eni.

The licence ownership is now as follows: Eni (operator, 40% equity interest), Woodside (25% equity interest), Chariot (10% equity interest) and Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (“ONHYM”) (25% carried interest).

Eni has acquired operatorship and a 40% equity interest from Chariot in return for a capped carry on drilling the JP-1 prospect as well as a carry on other geological and administrative costs relating to Rabat Deep and a recovery of Chariot’s investment to date. The JP-1 prospect, which will be targeted by the RD-1 well, is a large, four-way dip closed structure of approximately 200 square km areal extent, with Jurassic carbonate primary reservoir objectives and an independently audited gross mean prospective resource estimate of 768mmbbls.

Larry Bottomley, CEO commented:
“We are pleased to have satisfied all conditions precedent and welcome Eni as the operator of the Rabat Deep acreage. We anticipate that further to completing the Environmental Impact Assessment, finalising well planning and securing a rig, drilling will now occur in early 2018.

“This agreement continues to demonstrate Chariot’s ability to deliver on its strategy of securing thirdparty validation through partnering and we are excited that we will now take one of our priority targets through to drilling. Retaining a 10% equity interest in this well has the potential to create transformational value in the success case due to the large scale prospective resources, excellent contract commercial terms and robust economics. Success will also materially de-risk other targets we have identified within our neighbouring Mohammedia permits in which we hold a 75% interest.”

About Chariot

Chariot Oil & Gas Limited (AIM: CHAR) is an independent oil and gas exploration group. It holds licences covering four blocks in Namibia, two blocks in Morocco and four licences in the Barreirinhas Basin offshore Brazil. All of these blocks are currently in the exploration phase.
The ordinary shares of Chariot Oil & Gas Limited are admitted to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘CHAR’.

About ENI

Eni is an integrated company that operates across the entire energy chain, employing some 78,000 people in 90 countries around the world. Scientific research and technological innovation are at the heart of its strategies for sustainable development.
Eni’s excellent portfolio of conventional oil assets with competitive costs and the strong resource base with options for anticipated monetization ensure a robust value generation at Eni’s upstream activity. The vertical integration provided by the large presence in the gas and lng markets, and the know-how in refining and chemical sectors enable the company to capture synergies and catch joint opportunities and projects in the marketplace.