Continental Focus, International Reach

New E&P Company Formed to Explore Uganda’s Albertine Graben

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Two Australian firms, DGR Global and Armour Energy (AJQ) have established a new UK-incorporated company, Conjugate Energy, which will hold interests in oil exploration projects in the Albertine Graben, Uganda. Conjugate intends to seek admission to a UK stock exchange and raise funds primarily to drill two exploration wells or drill ready prospects with substantial resources of oil.

Conjugate will be exploring in the Albertine Graben of Uganda – a prolific hydrocarbon basin on the East African Rift System. On May 18 DGR Global Ltd (DGR) announced on the ASX that DGR Energy Turaco Uganda SMC Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of DGR, had been granted the Turaco Petroleum Exploration License for a 4-year period. In addition, it was announced that the Kanywataba Petroleum Exploration License, held by Armour Energy Uganda SMC Ltd which in turn is owned 83% by DGR and 17% by AJQ, had been renewed for a further 2-year period. It is intended that both these companies will be transferred to, and become subsidiaries of, Conjugate.

DGR and AJQ have expended considerable funds on the licenses in preparation for exploration drilling. These work streams have included 110kms of new 2D seismic, reprocessing existing seismic data and reinterpretation, geological studies, social and environmental impact reviews, Government and regulatory liaison and planning and preparation for two oil exploration wells in 2024 and entering contracts for delivery of these services.

Conjugate has identified a prospective oil and gas in place resource of approximately 3.158 billion barrels of oil across nine prospects and leads over both tenements. The Albertine Graben, though only ~40% explored by modern seismic surveys interpretation and drilling has a defined resource of 6.5Bn bbl oil in place with 1.4Bn bbl recoverable, under tenure to French and Chinese petroleum companies TotalEnergies and CNOOC.

DGR, in its release, states: “Any admission will be subject to, inter alia, compliance with the relevant regulatory requirements and accordingly there can be no certainty that any admission will occur or the timeframe in which it will occur.”

A planned refinery and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) due for completion and commissioning in 2025, with an overall capacity of up to 240,000 bbls oil a day for export, will provide Conjugate with an identifiable pathway to market for developed reserves post discovery. Wells in the Albertine Graben have flowed at up to 15,000 bbl per day from stacked Miocene and Pliocene sand reservoirs.

DGR and AJQ consider that success case scenarios, if delivered by the planned well-drilling programs, would significantly de-risk the project and further enhance equity value for Conjugate shareholders.


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