Sagex Petroleum welcomes the agreement between Russian and Norwegian authorities over the delimitation line in the area of overlapping territorial claims in the Barents Sea.

Sagex prepared in 2006 a multi-client report on the geology and prospectivity of the area that is still for sale. The Disputed Area covers approximately 170,000 km2, slightly larger than the Norwegian part of the North Sea. Structures in the Russian sector close to the Disputed Area have been drilled and large gas/condensate reserves have been encountered. Sagex personnel together with Russian expertise have used their extensive experience to compile and interpret all relevant available data.

With this background, Sagex is well placed to participate in the licensing of the Norwegian part of the area following the normal opening procedure.

Read more: Disputed Area Flyer

Sagex Petroleum is pleased to have secured a finance facility based on the exploration tax refund, which will be important towards funding the six exploration wells planned in Norway over the next three years.

The facility has been obtained from SEB with security against the tax refund of 78% of exploration investments the preceding year. Thus, the credit facility bridge the gap between accrued expenses and the tax refund the following years.

Sagex has an active drilling program consisting of several firm wells. Three wells are planned for 2011, testing net risked resources of 26 mmboe of the close to 200 mmboe net risked resources in the company’s portfolio.