Exploration & Production | Government & Regulatory
Sintana Awarded Approval by ANLA for Magdalena Basin Drilling
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Sintana Energy Inc. has reported that Patriot Energy Oil & Gas Inc., wholly owned by the Company, has received written notice from the Autoridad Nacional de Licencias Ambientales of Colombia (the ANLA) of final approval of the Environmental License effective January 17, 2014 for the VMM-37 Block in Colombia's Middle Magdalena Basin.
The Middle Magdalena Basin contains a number of oil and natural gas rock intervals that are either conventional or unconventional play types. Management believes that VMM-37 has multiple hydrocarbon prospective formations and both play types.
Under a Farmout Agreement with ExxonMobil Exploration Colombia Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, and with the approval of the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos de Colombia (the ANH), ExxonMobil has acquired an undivided 70% participation interest and operatorship in VMM-37 to explore and develop the unconventional reservoirs. For purposes of the Agreement, unconventional formations are defined as the La Luna and deeper.
Patriot retains the remaining 30% interest in the unconventional play as well as a 100% participation interest in the conventional resources overlying the top of the unconventional interval.
Sintana's CEO, Doug Manner, remarked, "Now that we have ANLA approval of the VMM-37 Environmental License, the partners have initiated execution of a previously developed and internally approved, step-by-step, pre-drill plan. Progress updates will be issued from time-to- time as milestones are achieved and results become available".