Kinetiko Energy has applied for a fifth technical cooperation permit to explore areas near its Amersfoort Project in South Africa for gas
The new 2,394 sq km permit is located west of the 1,601 sq km Amersfoort, which is located close to gas demand centres and existing infrastructure.
Amersfoort has existing in-place gas of 1.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) while the four recently awarded technical cooperation permits in the area, which cover 7,911 sq km, have prospective in-place gas resources of 9.3 tcf.
Technical cooperation permits entitle Kinetiko a year to perform desktop studies and the unique right to apply for exploration rights over the area they cover.
The permits also give the company the right to access exploration data held by the regulatory authorities.
The permits are located in the Karoo coal basin areas, which are highly prospective for commercial accumulations of coal seam gas.
In addition to its proximity to gas buyers and infrastructure, Amersfoort is also well covered with more than 800 existing coal exploration drill holes, giving it a strong database to identify potential gas reserves.
The high permeability of the coals also means that Kinetiko will not need to fracture stimulate its wells, lowering the cost of production.
Exploration to date has also uncovered signs of conventional gas potential which has not being assessed.
Kinetiko plans to drill four to eight pilot production wells and 15 exploration holes from the current quarter and up to three pilot production wells next year to establish reserves at Amersfoort.
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