Canadian oil and gas company Maxim Resources has acquired full interest of a reconnaissance contract on the Hassi Berkane block in Morocco
In May 2014, a report stated that Maxim Resources entered into a Heads of Agreement with First Sahara Energy to acquire its interest in a reconnaissance contract on the Moroccan oil block.
David Lane, president and CEO of First Sahara, stated, ”We are excited that Maxim has secured the highly prospective Hassi Berkane block. Morocco is an upcoming region for both onshore and offshore oil and gas discoveries, as our preliminary work on this project confirmed. We are pleased to be an investor at this early stage.”
The Hassi Berkane oil block (formerly known as Beni Znassen) is located onshore northeast of Morocco, stretching across 1.28mn acres with extensive 2D seismic data. It also has an oil seep at the periphery of the basin but no wells have been drilled there yet. The oil block is also close to the Maghreb Europe gas pipeline, which transports gas from the Maghreb gas field in adjacent Algeria.
Maxim will start Stage 1 reconnaissance of the Hassi Berkane Block in the next one month, which would cover the preparation of a NI51-101 Standards of Disclosure For Oil and Gas Activities, reprocessing 600 km of existing 2D seismic data, reprocessing 10,000km of aero mag and gravity, rock evaluation of basin outcrop, micro-seepage study across identified structural anomaly and analysis from high-resolution satellite imagery, stated reports.
According to the contract, First Sahara will receive a total of two million common shares of Maxim, subject to a four-month hold period.
