Petroceltic International

Petroceltic International plc is a publicly quoted oil and gas exploration and production company which currently employs 25 full time industry professionals supported by 30 to 50 international consultants across multiple disciplines and geographies. Petroceltic is an equal opportunities employer.

The Company is headquartered in Dublin with regional offices in London, Rome, Algiers and Tunis. Petroceltic’s shares are listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (PCI.L) and on the Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX) of the Irish Stock Exchange (EG5.IR).

Algeria

Petroceltic views Algeria as being a key part of our strategy to develop energy resources in the Mediterranean region. The petroleum resources of Algeria are considered to be world-class containing some 35 billion boe of proven hydrocarbon reserves (Source: Wood MacKenzie). Algeria supplies approximately 10% of Europe's natural gas via existing pipelines to Italy and Spain and to LNG projects. This supply capacity is set to expand with the recently completed Medgaz pipeline to Spain and the Galsi pipeline to Italy which is under development.

Petroceltic's Petroceltic's Isarene permit area is located in the south of the Illizi Basin in South Eastern Algeria. The original permit area covered in excess of 10,000 sq km and is bordered by a number of fields with proven oil and gas production. The In Amenas project to the east is Algeria’s largest wet gas project, jointly operated by BP, Sonatrach and Statoil. The Repsol operated oil field Tiffernine is less than 15kms from the northern block boundary.

Work Programme

Following a successful 2009/2010 five well drilling campaign Petroceltic, in conjunction with Sonatrach, secured an addendum to their Production Sharing Contract which provides for a two year extension period, from the 26th April 2010, to carry out appraisal work on four discovery areas, namely Ain Tsila, Isarene North East, Isarene North West and Hassi Tabtab. The total area retained for delineation is 4032 sq km (equivalent in area to 16 North Sea Blocks).

In April 2010, following the award of a two year appraisal extension period, Petroceltic established a dedicated multi-disciplinary appraisal team which has focused primarily on the compilation, synthesis and integration of all geological, geophysical and reservoir engineering data pertaining to the 2009 Ain Tsila Gas Condensate Discovery. In addition, the appraisal team has compiled an inventory of Ain Tsila appraisal drilling locations and the first five of these locations (AT-4, AT-5, AT-6, AT-7 and AT-8) have been approved by Sonatrach for drilling.

In July 2010 Petroceltic announced the signature of a contract for drilling rig services with Dalma Energy LLC, (“Dalma”) a Dubai based drilling contractor and in November 2010 well AT-4 was spudded . AT-4 is a vertical well located approximately 10 km to the east of AT-2 and is the first well to be drilled on the eastern flank of the field. The principal objective of the well was to determine the nature and extent of the gas in place in this previously undrilled area of the field. The well flowed from 2 zones with a combined rate of 1.35 mmscf/d of gas (1593 cubic metres/hour) and 450 bwpd of water with a flowing wellhead pressure of 160 PSIG on a 48” choke. After isolation of the lower zone to reduce water production, the upper zone was flowed separately at 1 mmscf/d of gas (1180 cubic metres/hour) with an associated 250 bwpd. It is likely that the induced fractures in the well have extended below the current field gas-water contact into an underlying aquifer resulting in the volumes of produced water seen. This volume of water reduced the gas flow to rates significantly lower than anticipated from this well.

Appraisal well AT-5 was spudded on 9th January 2011.This well is targeted at a “pop-up” feature to the north of the Ain Tsila field, where natural reservoir fracturing in combination with the near horizontal well bore trajectory may lead to enhanced productivity. The pilot hole successfully established the presence of the objective Ordovician reservoir, with logs indicating 75.5m of gas bearing reservoir with no gas water contact. Mud losses while drilling, together with core, conventional logs and image logs all indicate the interval is potentially highly fractured with some of these being open natural fractures. Significant gas shows and mud losses were also encountered in the horizontal section of the sidetrack within the objective Ordovician reservoir indicating the possibility of further open natural fractures. A multi-stage open-hole completion has been successfully run in the sidetrack and the well was suspended on 28 May 2011 ready for rigless testing operations.

Next Steps

On the 17th May 2011 Petroceltic announced the signature of a contract with KCA Deutag (KCAD) for a second drilling rig, the Nomad class T-211, with drilling operations likely to commence in July 2011.

Of the three approved wells remaining to be drilled (AT-6, AT-7 and AT-8), the first two are to be drilled in the southeast and the southwest of the field respectively. They are both vertical wells designed to appraise the extent of and quality of the Ordovician reservoir with the primary objective of proving up further gas in place. The fifth well, AT-8, will be drilled in the north of the field and to the north of the AT-1 and AT-5 wells and is targeted as a vertical well into another structural pop-up feature. The objectives of this well are to confirm the presence of the main Ordovician reservoir in the northern part of the field as well as target open natural fractures associated with this pop-up. Well testing will be dependent on the well results and will be conducted as a separate operation without the rig in place. It is anticipated that fracture stimulation will be required to maximize flow from some of these wells where the natural fracture system is not present.

The Delineation programme is focused on the delineation of the Ain Tsila Gas Condensate Discovery with a view to the submission of a development plan (Final Discovery Report) for all the approved discoveries in the Isarene Licence to the Algerian Authorities in early 2012.

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Italy

Italy is the third largest producer of oil and the fifth largest of gas in Western Europe. Proven reserves in Italy to date exceed 622m barrels of crude oil and 8 TCF of gas. Recent years have seen a considerable increase in the level of interest in Italy’s energy resources and a greater number of companies have been attracted to the area.

As a large net importer of hydrocarbons, there is a large market for domestically produced gas. Italy is also seen by many as being a likely hub for gas import into Europe. The development of a series of pipelines linking Italy to major gas producers such as Algeria, and Libya and the development of new LNG terminals will ensure that Italy can fulfill this role.

Petroceltic has had a strong presence in Italy since 2005. We have since substantially increased our holdings in Italy both onshore in the proven Po Valley region and offshore in the Central Adriatic region. In total we now have an interest in 6 permits and 14 permit applications in this territory.  

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Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Petroceltic has been awarded a 20% interest (16% participating interest) in two highly prospective blocks in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Hess Middle East will act as operator of both blocks with an 80% interest (64% participation).

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will have a 20% carried interest.

Opportunity arose subsequent to a 2011 AMI between PCI and Hess re Dinarta/Shakrok. Blocks were approved by the KRG on 27 July 2011, PSC’s fully agreed and signed.

First Phase Financial Commitment of approximately $72 million net to PCI, inclusive of all Signature and Capacity building Bonuses.

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Board of Directors - For more in depth info, please click here

Robert Arnott - Non-Executive Chairman

Robert has over 25 years experience of the Upstream Industry in both technical, business development roles with 10 years direct experience in Investment Banking as an upstream oil and gas analyst. He worked with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS. He is a Research Fellow with the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies and until 2008 advised the Norwegian EP company DNO on its strategy in Kurdistan and Yemen. He joined the Board of Petroceltic as the senior non-executive Director in January 2010 and was appointed as chariman of the Company in May 2010. He is actively involved in meeting investors globally.

Brian O'Cathain - Chief Executive

Brian is a geologist and petroleum engineer with 25 years’ experience in senior technical and commercial roles in upstream oil and gas exploration and production companies, Brian previously held the positions of Managing Director of Tullow Oil’s international business and chief executive of Afren plc. In senior management positions with Enterprise Oil and Shell International, he was principally involved with acquisitions, divestments and corporate strategy. He has experience in working in West Africa, The North Sea, The Gulf of Mexico, South Asia, and Offshore Ireland. He was formerly chief executive of Afren plc.

Alan McGettigan - Group Finance Director

Alan has over 20 years of experience in oil and gas exploration and production. Prior to joining Petroceltic, Alan worked for BG International where he held senior roles in Commercial and Group Business Development. His other experience includes roles at Shell International and BP as well as four years as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. Alan holds B.Sc. and M. Sc. degrees in Engineering and a Master in Business Administration with distinction from the Harvard Business School.


Andrew Bostock - Senior Non-Executive Director

Andy is an experienced upstream oil and gas director with 25 years of operational and commercial experience in the sector. After beginning his career with Shell International, he progressed through increasingly senior technical and commercial roles in a number of independent oil and gas companies, including Enterprise Oil, Talisman Energy and Venture Production, before serving as an executive director of Dana Petroleum plc between 2001 and 2006. He joined the Board of Petroceltic as the senior non-executive Director in June 2007. He is currently chairman of Purepower Group Limited, a privately owned renewable energy company.


Tom Hickey - Corporate Development Director

Mr Hickey was previously an Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Tullow Oil plc. Tom will join the Board with immediate effect, and will assume his executive position on 1st December 2010. Tom was Chief Financial Officer and a director of Tullow Oil plc (“Tullow”) from 2000-08. During this time Tullow grew via a number of significant acquisitions including the US $570 million acquisition of Energy Africa in 2004 and the US $1.1 billion acquisition of Hardman Resources in 2007. Tullow also experienced considerable exploration success, leading to the establishment of important new oil provinces in Ghana and Uganda. Prior to joining Tullow, Tom was an Associate Director of ABN AMRO Corporate Finance (Ireland) Limited, with responsibility for advising public and private companies in relation to equity fund raising, mergers and acquisitions, and related transactions. A Commerce graduate of University College Dublin and a Fellow of the Irish Institute of Chartered Accountants, he is also a non-executive Director of PetroNeft Resources Plc, an AIM listed independent oil and gas company with assets in Western Siberia, and of Ikon Science Limited, a geological software company.


Con Casey - Company Secretary, Non-Executive Director

Con is a Chartered Certified Accountant, partner of LHM Casey McGrath and a member of the board of Petroceltic International Plc since October 2000. He has over 25 years’ experience in advising companies in the natural resources sector as well as acting as adviser to a number of publicly quoted companies and semistate organisations and specialises in the area of corporate finance.

As company secretary, Con is responsible for ensuring that the company complies with relevant legislation & regulation and keeps board members informed of their legal responsibilities. As non-executive director, he monitors the executive activity and contributes to the development of strategy. Con is chairman of the audit committee and a member of the nominations committee and the remuneration committee.

Peter Dunne-Company Secretary

Peter is a Chartered Accountant who trained in KPMG in Dublin and subsequently spent four years in Australia working for a number of listed companies. Prior to joining Petroceltic in 2009 as Corporate Finance and Commercial Manager, he was Group Financial Controller and latterly Corporate Finance & Commercial Manager for London based, AIM listed Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Company, Regal Petroleum plc .

The above parties had interests of greater than 3% of the issued share capital of the Company as at 10 October 2011:

The total number of shares in issue and significant shareholders (in so far the Company is aware) are as follows: 
Number of shares in issue: 2,369,605,049
Number of warrants outstanding: 9,331,683
Number of share options outstanding: 175,803,380
Percentage of shares held by Directors of the Company: 0.72%
Free float percentage: 99.28%

There are no restrictions on the transfer of the AIM securities.

Updated from company website 25.10.11