Melbana outlines Cuba drilling plans

Melbana Energy has set out plans to develop its onshore Block 9 (pictured) in Cuba as part of its latest quarterly activities report.

The Australian oil and mining company will focus on a detailed planning for a drilling campaign, which the it announced earlier this week after Petro Australis failed to achieve pre-qualification from the Cuban authorities to buy a 40% interest in the block.

The failure saw Melbana retain its 100% stake.

Melbana plans to drill up to two wells in Block 9 commencing mid-2018. Based on a range of potential drill targets, a two-well campaign would cost in the range of US$10-30mn, and ongoing subsurface studies may yield further high quality, attractive drilling objectives, the company said.

In September, Melbana announced it would use US$5.2mn in fresh capital to help bankroll the exploration, having raised US$3.42mn from an entitlement issue, in addition to US$1.8mn from a placement.

Melbana said in the Q3 activities report that is has commenced farmout activities for the block, with a data room opened at its Melbourne office.

"The key focus for the company during the coming months will be continuing farmout activities, ongoing detailed analysis of the current high priority drilling targets, preparation of detailed well design and drilling plans, seeking Cuban regulatory approvals required for drilling in 2018, identification of long-lead procurement and contracting actions for the planned drill program, and detailed contractor evaluation and selection in preparation for field contract commitments," Melbana said.

Earlier this month, Melbana said it had notified Cuba's hydrocarbons regulatory authorities of its commitment to the second exploration sub-period for the block, after having begun work on the block in August, which involved undertaking initial site surveys around the proposed Alameda-1 well location, after having been awarded an eight-month exploration extension for the block in 4Q16 by state oil firm Cupet.