The contract was signed in the provincial capital, Pemba, on 18 April.
Artumas already holds a concession on the other bank of the Rovuma river, in the Mnazi Bay area of south-eastern Tanzania.
According to an Artumas release, the contract envisages "an initial three-year exploration term with two extension terms".
During the initial period Artumas has pledged capital expenditure of about 20 million US dollars.
This will involve "a minimum of 250 kilometres of new 2D seismic data", and the drilling of a deep exploratory well. In addition, Artumas has been granted the option of re-opening and testing a well drilled in Mocimboa da Praia district by Esso in 1986.
Esso gave up, but Artumas notes that the well it dug "encountered multiple intervals of hydrocarbon shows, and several independent studies on the well logs have identified by-pass gas in the Cretaceous formation".
In other words, there are hydrocarbons in the Rovuma Basin - the question is whether they exist in commercially viable quantities.
Artumas bid for, and was awarded the Rovuma onshore bloc in March 2006. It covers an area of 15,000 square kilometres.
Artumas describes the Rovuma basin as "one of the last undrilled Tertiary delta systems in the world".
The company is optimistic, since its Tanzanian operation has yielded "commercial gas accumulations and evidence of light oil and condensate resource".
Artumas is the fourth company authorised to explore for hydrocarbons in the Mozambican side of the Rovuma Basin. Together they are expected to invest around 300 million dollars.
SOURCE: AIM
