Zenith Energy has entered into a joint venture agreement with a local oil and gas company in the Republic of Congo.
The main aim of the agreement is the potential acquisition of an onshore oil production license that as of 2019 was producing approximately 300 barrels per day from the regionally proven Mengo formation. Production has since been suspended pending the assignation of a new license by the relevant authorities.
This potential acquisition is located in the Kouilou region of the Republic of Congo, close to Pointe-Noire, the second-largest city in Congo, and also close to Tilapia, the oil production asset that Zenith acquired in May 2020 from AIM-listed Anglo African oil and gas plc.
The Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Energy, Andrea Cattaneo, commented “As is known by shareholders, the company’s senior management is currently in the Republic of the Congo conducting negotiations with the relevant authorities for the attribution of a new 25-year licence in relation to the highly prospective Tilapia asset. Our presence in the cities of Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, has facilitated access to a number of compelling domestic opportunities, which have become even more commercially attractive in view of the recent decline in oil prices.
The potential acquisition has two key qualities that render it highly compatible to our portfolio: near-term profitable production potential and significant development potential to progressively maximise production on account of the potentially highly significant oil reserves in place which will require independent evaluation under Canadian National Instrument 51-101.”
The Republic of Congo is one of the two Africa countries and one of the four countries that Zenith Energy carries out its operation. The other African country is Tunisia and other countries are Italy and Azerbaijan. According to Zenith Energy, it “views the Republic of the Congo as a highly prospective hydrocarbon province with a very supportive jurisdictional framework for junior, independent oil companies with ambitious development objectives.”
