Aminex PLC
15 March 2006
15 MARCH 2006
AMINEX PLC
ACQUISITION OF SEISMIC OPTION IN KENYA
Aminex PLC ("Aminex"), the oil and gas company listed in London and Dublin,
today announces that it has signed a Participation Agreement with Upstream
Petroleum Services Limited ("UPSL") in respect of Blocks L9 and L10 offshore
Kenya.
UPSL is a party to a Technical Evaluation Agreement with the Kenyan Government
for Blocks L9 and L10, pursuant to which it has, in February 2006, acquired new
seismic and will in the next 3 months acquire additional seismic and geochemical
data. The cost of the preliminary seismic programmes and geochemical surveys
will be approximately $2 million and Aminex will participate with a 25%
interest, financed partly by a cash payment of $300,000 and partly through the
issue to UPSL of new Aminex shares to a value of $250,000.
The Technical Evaluation Agreement covers approximately 5,000 square kilometres
and lies in relatively shallow water close to potential gas markets in Mombassa.
The Participation Agreement will provide Aminex and partners with exclusive
access to the data until 30 September 2006 with a view to negotiating a full
Production Sharing Contract with the Kenyan Government during 2006. This will
be conditional upon first obtaining satisfactory results from a preliminary
seismic acquisition programme, anticipated in the near future. Aminex's
investment may become repayable if a Production Sharing Contract is not
ultimately granted.
Partners are: Aminex 25%
UPSL 50%
Somken 25%
Commenting, Aminex Chief Executive Brian Hall said: "Expansion into Kenya is a
logical step from our existing base of operations in Tanzania and provides us
with further good acreage on the East African margin on ground floor terms, in
line with our strategy for the region. We are very pleased to have developed
this association with UPSL whose skills are complementary to our own."
Further info:
Brian Hall Chief Executive, Aminex +44 (0) 20 7240 1600
Archie Berens Pelham Public Relations +44 (0) 20 7743 6679 or
+44 (0)7802 442486
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange