Mauritania: PSC A & PSC B & PSC C-10
| Location | Nouakchott sub-basin (Northern MSGBC Basin) |
| Area | 11,627 km² (PSC A - 110km² / PSC B - 403 km² / PSC C-10 10,725 km² / Chinguetti 29 Km²) |
| Sterling Equity | Share of State back-in on Chinguetti Field |
| Partners | Petronas (Operator), Tullow, SMH, KUFPEC, Premier, ROC |
| Sterling Net Revenue Interest % | PSC A: Sliding scale royalty over 3% PSC B: Sliding scale royalty over 6% (except 5.28% of the Chinguetti Field) PSC C-10: Sliding scale royalty over 4% (average) |
| Chinguetti Funding Agreement with SMH | Economic interest for approximatley 8% of Chinguetti project |
Gross production continued to decline at the lower rate observed in 2010, reducing from 7,800 bopd in January to 6,800 bopd in December. The average production net to Sterling during 2011 was 629 bopd.
Sterling estimates that at the end of 2011, as a result of the lower observed decline rate, Chinguetti held a remaining 9.2 million barrels of gross proved and probable reserves (2P) that could be accessed with the existing wells. This is reflected in the upwards revision of Sterling’s net 2P reserves to 0.664 million barrels.
No in-fill drilling or work-over activity took place on the Chinguetti field during 2011. A planned shutdown for maintenance of the floating production and storage facility was conducted over a 5 day period in November 2011.
In October 2011, the joint venture partners in PSC A and PSC B concluded agreements with the Mauritanian Government for the replacement of the offshore exploration areas within these PSC’s with a new, single exploration PSC called C-10, operated by Tullow Oil Plc. The exploration programme in PSC C-10 is expected to include a minimum of 2 wells over the first 3 years. The existing Banda, Tevet and Tiof discoveries have been ring-fenced under their original PSC terms and extensions of up to 18 months were granted to allow appraisal and development activities to be completed. Petronas will continue to operate Chinguetti field.
In the event of any commercial development of existing or future discoveries within these contract areas, Sterling will be entitled to revenue, but will not have any cost obligations, under its royalty interest agreements with Premier Oil.
