Anatolia Energy Announces Spudding of the Giremir-1 Well on the Sinan Licence in Turkey
CALGARY, Jan. 15, 2013 /CNW/ - Anatolia Energy Corp. (the "Company") (TSX-V: AEE) is pleased to announce that its partner, Çalik Enerji San. ve Tic. AS. ("Calik"), has commenced drilling at Giremir-1, the initial exploration well on the Sinan Licence in Turkey, where Anatolia can earn a 50% interest.
The Giremir-1 commitment well will satisfy the drilling requirements on the Sinan Licence pursuant to its Joint Venture agreement with Calik and as required by the General Directorate of Petroleum Affairs ("GDPA"), Turkey's energy regulatory body. Drilling of Giremir-1 satisfies the work commitment of the Sinan Licence during its initial four year exploration period and satisfies the district drilling obligation which includes the Bismil Licences.
Giremir-1 is expected to be drilled to a depth of approximately 1,250 meters for a total cost of US$1.4 million. The deepest horizon to be drilled will be the Upper Sinan Formation. Although its hydrocarbon potential is unknown in this area, the Paleocene age reservoir produces oil in 5 fields in southeastern Turkey; most notably at the Selmo Field which is located approximately 47 kilometres northeast of the Giremir well.
The Sinan and Bismil Licences encompass 17,833 (8,917 net) and 245,699 gross (122,850 net) acres, respectively, and are well-located within the Dadas Shale Oil trend as well as the Cretaceous and Ordovician conventional oil plays. Activity focused on the Dadas Shale continues to gain momentum with numerous drilling and testing operations currently on-going in the area, including the drilling of the first well of the Shell and Turkish Petroleum ("TPAO") joint venture approximately 20 km from the Company's Sinan Licence border. Under the terms of the TPAO-Shell agreement announced in November 2011, Shell is expected to drill five wells into the Dadas Shale formation.
Upcoming Dadas Shale Activity
Anatolia continues to work towards the optimal design of a fracture stimulation test of the Silurian Dadas Shale on the Bismil Licence. The tests are due to be carried out in 2013 with the aim of flowing hydrocarbons from the shale. A large volume of physical and geochemical data extracted from the shale cores has led management to anticipate a positive fracture response from the shale. The Bismil and Sinan Licences in Turkey provide the Company with exposure to 263,532 gross acres (131,766 net) of Dadas Shale and/or conventional oil prospective acreage. The Company's independent third party resource evaluator, Ryder Scott, has allocated 94 MMBbls (47 MMBbls net) of unrisked prospective resources related to the Dadas Shale on the Bismil and Sinan Licences (June 11, 2012 news release).
Amending JV Terms
The Company and Calik recently amended the Joint Venture agreement for Sinan, Antep and Besni such that the final payment to trust of $6.5 million due March 31, 2013 has been extended to August 1, 2013 to better reflect the timing of the respective work programs. In addition, the parties agreed to amend the JV Supplemental agreement with an option to earn an additional 25% at Bismil (Dadas Shale) such that the payments to trust have been amended to $1.5 million on August 1, 2013 and $10 million on March 31, 2014 to better reflect the timing of the respective work programs.
About Anatolia Energy Corp.
Anatolia is an international oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and development of oil and gas assets in Turkey. Anatolia has the right, pursuant to its joint venture agreements with Çalik Enerji San. ve Tic. AS., the wholly-owned oil and gas subsidiary of the large Turkish conglomerate Çalik Holding A.S., to earn working interests between 25% and 50% in two development licences and working interests of 50% in nine exploration licences covering 1,162,856 gross acres of land in Turkey's proven Southeastern oil basin. Anatolia is focused on four play types in Turkey namely the Silurian Dadas shale oil trend, Paleozoic Bedinan sand trend, Cretaceous Mardin strike slip trend and Garzan reef trend. The Dadas formation in southeast Turkey is an extension of the prolific Silurian source rocks of the Middle East.
Cautionary Statements
Prospective resources are those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects. Prospective resources have both an associated chance of discovery and a chance of development. There is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the prospective resources.
Certain information included in this press release constitutes forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", "project" or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking information in this press release may include, but is not limited to, information with respect to: ultimate economic viability of the Dadas Shale, operational decisions and the timing thereof, and timing for drilling and exploration plans on the properties of Anatolia. Forward-looking information is based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such information but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Anatolia believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information is reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information because Anatolia can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which have been used. Anatolia undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. For further information on the Company and the risks associated with its business, please see the Company's AIF dated June 4, 2012, which is available on SEDAR. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE: Anatolia Energy Corp.
Peter Argiris, VP Business Development
Anatolia Energy Corp.
403.802.0770 ext. 225
Canada Newswire
January 15, 2013 - 1:38 PM EST
