Mosman Oil and Gas Ltd (AIM:MSMN) this week gave investors an update on its upcoming helium exploration in Colorado, confirming drilling at the Vecta Helium Project is due to start by mid-May.
CEO Andy Carroll joined the Proactive studio to tell us more about the project and what investors can expect in the coming months.
Proactive: Joining me is Mosman Oil and Gas CEO, Andy Carroll. Andy, very good to speak with you all the way from Colorado. Your ongoing updates on the Vecta Helium project in Colorado - drilling is set for next month?
Andy Carroll: Very pleased that we've now got a specific schedule with Vecta.
We have a date when the rig is available, and then a few days later, we expect drilling to start.
We don’t want to give an exact date because of mobilization, but it's certainly planned to be in progress by mid-May.
It’s the first time we've had a specific schedule with Vecta and confirmation that the rig is available and Vecta is available. So it's sort of full steam ahead.
Proactive: So there's a five-well drilling program. Some of the factors that you're going to be considering are helium concentrations and reservoir pressure.
Are you encouraged by positive results from other operators in the same area as Vecta?
Andy Carroll: Yes, indeed. Blue Star, in a joint venture with Helium One, are reporting their drilling results, and there’s a lot of lessons to be learned from each of these wells drilled.
Vecta and Blue Star drilled a well called Salmons last year, and everything was looking really good until they hit high CO2 and low helium content.
We’re very keen on the Vecta prospects, which are further east near the Model Dome field.
That field was discovered and produced in the 1920s and had a much higher helium content, in the 7 to 11% range.
So we’re hopeful of higher helium concentrations further to the west. But each prospect has an individual character.
It’s nice to have this package of five, and each one has its own exploration probability of success. But by drilling five, the odds are obviously significantly increased.
Proactive: When would you expect to have more news for investors, Andy?
Andy Carroll: The update is that the rig actually mobilizes, and it's not long then until it starts drilling. Each of these wells can be drilled in two days. Then there's maybe some testing time before the rig moves on.
So there’ll be a series of drilling updates starting in about four weeks’ time.
Other news on other projects, we’re very pleased with the initial results of what we're seeing on the seismic at Coyote Wash and Sagebrush.
I'm here with the team in Denver, so it's great to have the team together. We’re talking with the technical consultants and the other people that we have in our group here in Denver.
We’re going on Friday to see the Vecta sites over in the southeast corner of Colorado. And then we've got meetings after that on our Sagebrush and Coyote Wash locations.
We’re meeting the tribe on Tuesday, which is going to be great. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe invited us to meet next Tuesday.
So it's all very positive and moving fast on progressing the exploration of those two prospects.
We're very encouraged by what we see, and we’ll be able to put out updates when that work is completed, probably in a few weeks’ time.
Proactive: Andy, I hope you'll keep us posted on any progress. Thank you very much for the update.