OREANDA-NEWS. Genel Energy announces that it has agreed to acquire a 40% interest in the Adigala Block onshore Ethiopia from New Age (African Global Energy) Limited (the “Transaction”). Under the Transaction, Genel Energy plc (“Genel”) will acquire a 40% non-operated interest in the Adigala Block from New Age (Ethiopia) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of New Age (African Global Energy) Limited (“New Age”). The consideration involves a payment in respect of back costs and a contribution to the cost of a 2D seismic acquisition planned before the end of 2013.

 The Adigala Block covers an area of c27,000km2 and is located in the northeast of Ethiopia, bordering Djibouti to the north and Somaliland to the east. An existing 520km of 2D seismic was reprocessed in 2012 and augmented by a Full Tensor Gravity survey. The integration of these data has provided evidence that all the elements of a working petroleum system exist on the Adigala Block. In particular, oil seeps and surface outcrops support the presence of a mature and active Jurassic oil prone system, which is thought to be analogous to the prolific producing Jurassic Rift Basins of Yemen. Several large potential structural closures have been identified on existing data. The planned 2D seismic and further technical work will help in refining these leads into drill ready prospects. The Transaction is targeted for completion by September 2013 and is conditional upon government approval by the Ethiopian authorities.

 Commenting on the transaction, Dr John Hurst, Head of Exploration said:
 “The Adigala Block farm-in is a natural extension of our exploration strategy, which seeks to acquire material equity positions in hydrocarbon basins with significant potential, as well as complementing our extensive interests onshore Somaliland where drilling is planned for 2014. We look forward to working with our new partners to high-grade the prospectivity on the block and add further depth and materiality to our exploration inventory.”