Maxim Resources has entered into a heads of agreement (HOA) with First Sahara Energy (FSE) to acquire its 100 per cent interest on the Beni Znassen Block in Morocco
The onshore block will be transferred to Maxim Resources and its newly formed wholly-owned Moroccan subsidiary MAXIM Pétrole de Gaz SARL (Maxim PG).
The reconnaissance contract interest is expected to be re-registered to Maxim PG after the acceptance and approval of ONHYM on or by 15 June 2014. Upon completion of the re-registration to Maxim PG of the interest, Maxim Resources will issue FSE a total of 2,000,000 common shares as consideration, the Canada-listed company said.
The Beni Znassen Block is located in the northeast part of Morocco and encompasses 1.28mn ha with extensive 2-D seismic data.
According to Maxim Resources, the block contains similar reservoir and source rocks to the Tselfat area in central Morocco, which has large proven oil and gas reserves. The seismic data reveals several alluring structural anomalies with a similar profile to the numerous oil & gas fields in the Tselfat area. There is a known oil seep at the periphery of the Beni Znassen Basin. The drilling depth to target horizons is less than 3,000 metres.
The company added that for ONHYM to approve the contract, it would require reprocessing 600km of existing 2-D seismic data, reprocessing 10,000km of aero mag and gravity, a rock evaluation of basin outcrops, a micro-seepage study across the identified structural anomaly, attribute reprocessing of key seismic lines, including direct hydrocarbon identification, hyper spectral/multi-spectral analysis from high-resolution satellite imagery.
Art Brown, CEO of Maxim Resources, said, “Maxim Resources has been seeking new opportunities that will have both exploration and near term production possibilities. This Beni Znassen project has a substantial footprint and the early stage research appears promising. Morocco has become a new frontier for oil and gas exploration and production and we are very excited about the opportunity to participate in this country’s development.”
