This comes after Cott Oil and Gas (PNG) Limited withdrew from its 50 per cent interest in the licences, with the withdrawal effective immediately subject to government approval.
Kina is due to start seismic re-processing programs in both licences, aimed at delineating regions which will be the focus of future seismic acquisition programs.
“The Western Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) remains relatively under-explored and we are pleased to be able to consolidate our interests in the PPL 435 and PPL 436 licences,” said Kina Petroleum Managing Director Richard Schroder.
“Both licences contain leads which are of considerable size and which are commercially attractive due to their accessibility, relatively shallow depth and proximity to discovered hydrocarbons in Western Province.
“The upcoming seismic re-processing and acquisition programs will provide us with further clarity of the prospectivity of these leads ahead of drilling.
“Clearly, in the event of a discovery, the licences are well located for potential inclusion in any development either on a stand-alone basis or as part of a Western Province aggregation strategy.”
Quarterly report
In addition to the licences developments, Kina also announced the following well updates in its quarterly report:
PRL 21 – The project development team continues to focus on cost reduction and value engineering studies to further optimise the field economics ahead of FID.
PRL 38 – Evaluation continues on further exploration targets close to proven gas at Pandora A and B.
PPL 337 – Raintree-1 and Kwila-1 were drilled during the quarter. Numerous gas shows were encountered during drilling of Raintree, although the intercepted carbonate reef target was absent. The direct hydrocarbon indicator on seismic down-dip of the Kwila location remains unexplained.
PPL 437 – Prospect analysis of Malisa South is proceeding ahead of economic and risk evaluation.
PPL 338 – Major seismic reprocessing program underway; Triceratops, Mangrove and Nipa leads will be reinterpreted on completion of the program.
PPL 339 – Oil Search has excercised its option to farm into PPL 339 and will undertake a drilling program in 2016.