Predator Oil & Gas Holdings plc said it had found a simple way to early monetisation of the group’s Guercif MOU-1 gas well site in Morocco.
The company commissioned SLR Consulting Ltd to develop a high level scheme for the transport costs of dry gas to existing reception facilities via a pilot compressed natural gas (CNG) ‘virtual pipeline’.
Capital and operating cost estimates considered different trailer options for road transport.
Diesel versus CNG fuel options for haulage trucks were evaluated in terms of capital and operating costs and carbon footprint with road distance to market point calculated to be 340 km.
Initial well head pressures were assumed to be 2100 psi declining to 500 psi over 5 years.
An initial pilot CNG project assumed a production profile of 10 mm cfgpd and a project life of 10 years.
Predator said that the scoping cost estimates, based on actual CNG industry data, showed that gross capital development cost estimates for start-up production were $15.185 to 15.833 million depending on haulage fuel choice and steel components used.
This would be net to the company’s 75% working interest £8.2 – £8.6 million.
Predator chief executive Paul Griffiths said that the study provided the data to help expedite a development plan based on a potential gas discovery as well as for an environmental impact assessment.
“The development option is simple, easily managed and requires very low levels of capital to generate near-term gas revenues.
“Importing specialist haulage vehicles and trailers and storage capacity are the only significant long-lead items.
“The potential for early and material revenue generation and profits is very exciting.
“Successfully executing a pilot CNG project will de-risk scalability and drive the potential to add large numbers of new industrial customers where no realistic alternatives to imported fuel oil currently exist.”
Predator Holdings, which also has interests in Trinidad and Ireland, will supply initial potential gas discovery at MOU-1 to the Moroccan industrial market.