CALGARY
,
Dec. 11
/CNW/ - Bengal Energy Ltd. (TSX: BNG) ("Bengal" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement to acquire a 100% working interest in a 654,000 acre exploration block in Australia's Cooper Basin. The acquisition is subject to the grant of an Authority To Prospect (ATP) by the government of the state of Queensland in
Australia
. The block has a 12-year term and has a minimum work commitment consisting of the acquisition of 100 line kilometers of 2D and the drilling of one well within the first four years.
The acquisition, which is being conducted through Bengal's wholly owned subsidiary Avery Resources (
Australia
) Pty Ltd, is based on the technical interpretation of 2,400 line kilometers of 2D seismic data on the block. Bengal's highly experienced technical team has identified several potential Jurassic age oil plays and deeper Permian age natural gas plays. The block is also influenced by a buried meteorite crater. Throughout the world, ancient impact structures have been known to source and trap significant hydrocarbon accumulations. A major gas transmission line crosses the block and a number of producing oil and gas fields are on trend and within 20 kilometers of the block's borders.
Bengal continues to build on its counter-cyclical approach to acquiring high potential exploration blocks. This latest acquisition brings Bengal's net undeveloped land to over 2.3 million acres. Upon closing this will be the fourth major exploration play acquired and announced by Bengal in the producing basins of
Australia
and
India
over the past year. In
October 2009
Bengal was provisionally awarded a 100% working interest in a 340,000-acre offshore block at CY-OSN 2009/1 in the Cauvery Basin of
India
, where companies operating within 50 kilometers of the block have committed over
$200 million
of exploration expenditures over the next four years. In
March 2009
Bengal was awarded a 100% working interest in exploration permit AC/P 47, an 861,000-acre block in Australian waters of the Timor Sea. A subsequent third party engineering Prospective Resource Assessment identified Best Estimate Gross Prospective Resources(1) of 590 million barrels of oil in one structure on the block. In
December 2008
Bengal was awarded a 30% working interest in the 234,000-acre onshore
India
block at CY-ONN-2005/1 where it has partnered with two of India's National Oil Companies.
The acquisition fits Bengal's strategy of pursuing large land positions with operational control, minimal upfront capital requirements, high working interests and strong prospectivity. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of calendar 2010.
About Bengal
Bengal Energy Ltd. is an international junior oil and gas exploration and production company based in
Calgary
, Alberta. The Company is committed to growing shareholder value through international exploration, production and acquisitions. Bengal trades on the TSX under the symbol BNG. Additional information is available at www.bengalenergy.ca.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking information. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, the forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. The Company has provided these forward-looking statements or information in reliance on certain assumptions that it believes are reasonable at this time, including that the Queensland Government will grant an ATP on the 654,000 acres in
Australia
and that the provisional award of 340,000 acres at CY-OSN 2009/1 in the Cauvery Basin of
India
will be formalized. Risks include, but are not limited to: risks associated with obtaining the necessary approvals for the granting of the ATP, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's control, risks associated with the oil and gas industry, commodity prices and exchange rate changes, operational risks associated with exploration, development and production operations and delays or changes in plans. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements except as required by securities laws. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings of the Company with Canadian securities regulators, which are available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.
(1)Gross Prospective Resources are those quantities of petroleum that are estimated 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 any portion of the prospective resources will be discovered. If discovered, there is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the prospective resources. The Best Estimate is considered to be the best estimate of the quantity that will actually be recovered. This term reflects a P50 confidence level where the successful discovery will have a 50% chance of being more than this resource estimate.
%SEDAR: 00003559E
For further information: Bengal Energy Ltd., Bradley Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Chayan Chakrabarty, President, (403) 205-2526, Email: [email protected], Website: www.bengalenergy.ca
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