NORWEST ENERGY NL - ASX: NWE

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Description

Norwest Energy NL is an Australian-based exploration and production company with assets in Australia and the United Kingdom. Norwest has interests in two major yet underexplored oil and gas provinces in Western Australia – the Timor Sea’s Vulcan Sub-Basin and the northern Perth Basin.

Vulcan Sub Basin, Australia

In the Vulcan Sub-basin, Norwest has a 1.25% gross overriding royalty interest in AC/P22, which contains the Puffin oil field and surrounding exploration acreage. Puffin has had a troubled history but the project partners – Chinese giant Sinopec and AED Oil – are working on plans to deal with the field’s problems and aim to resume production in 2011 or 2012. Norwest remains confident of the potential of Puffin and of the area’s exploration upside.

Perth Basin

Norwest has interests in three northern Perth Basin project areas – one offshore and two onshore. The Company’s offshore northern Perth Basin permit is TP/15 (Norwest 100%) off the coast of Dongara. This holds several exciting oil prospects, including Xanadu and Redhill South. Norwest is aiming to drill either or both of these Prospects in 2010. Norwest Energy has interests in three adjacent project areas in southern England’s Wessex Basin.

In the onshore northern Perth Basin, southeast of Dongara, Norwest holds a working interest in the L14 production licence and the surrounding exploration permit, EP413. The L14 block contains the producing Origin Energy-operated Jingemia oilfield, which delivers a modest, but steady flow of revenue to Norwest, while EP413 offers exploration upside.

To the east of Dongara, Norwest and Empire Oil & Gas have agreed to swap equities in the adjoining licenses EP368 (Norwest) and EP426 (Empire) in order to appraise the North Erregulla oil discovery, a known but undeveloped field with high-quality oil discovered in 1973. The North Erregulla prospect straddles the two licenses and the equity swap will allow it to be explored with one definitive well.

Wessex Basin, UK

Norwest Energy has interests in three adjacent project areas in southern England’s Wessex Basin.

While southern England is not generally recognised as having significant potential for oil and gas discoveries, this underexplored region contains Western Europe’s largest onshore oil field – the BP-operated Wytch Farm – which has estimated original reserves of 500MMbbl (400MMbbl produced to date).

Since Wytch Farm’s discovery in 1973, no other significant oil field has been found in the Wessex Basin, which remains underexplored. Onshore England has been overshadowed by the higher North Sea petroleum province, but as working the North Sea becomes more difficult and more expensive, this is likely to change. Norwest’s UK acreage is close to Wytch Farm and the company believes it has done well to secure prime acreage in the Wessex Basin at this time.

Another reason for the limited exploration in Wessex Basin is its high population and dense development. While undertaking seismic in such areas is logistically difficult and expensive, Norwest’s expertise in various forms of gravity gradiometry surveys has proved invaluable in this region. Preliminary survey results have been very positive and indicate that Norwest’s geological model for the basin is sound.

Mine For

oil, gas

Location of operation(s)

Western Australia, UK

Australian Basins

Vulcan, Perth

Address

Ground Floor , 288 Stirling Street
PERTH, WA, AUSTRALIA

Phone

(08) 9227 3240

Email

Website

http://www.norwestenergy.com.au/

Last Updated

7/3/2011