Wentworth, the AIM listed independent, East Africa-focused oil & gas company, provides the following operational and commercial update. 

Mnazi Bay Operations

As part of the scheduled maintenance program of the Operator, a slick-line campaign is planned to commence towards the end of March 2019.  It will include opening the sliding-sleeves of various well completions and acquiring static pressures in the Lower MB sand interval.

Opening sliding sleeves, which shut off or open flow from one or more reservoir zones, allows for more operational flexibility in the asset with regards sustaining plateau production. The pressure monitoring of sands currently not flowing will further refine the Joint Venture understanding of both in-place and recoverable volumes in all intervals of the Mnazi Bay field.

Collectively, these operations will determine if sustained higher production rates can accommodate forward demand growth.

It is expected that demand will increase in H2 2019 and beyond due to an increase in demand from Dangote Cement Plant (from 15 MMscf/d to 35 MMscf/d) and the Kinyerezi Power Complex realizing its full capacity.  

Due to the operational activities outlined above, we expect that the average daily production rate will be limited to 70 MMscf/day from 11 March 2019 until early April 2019.

Despite this reduced production, the onset of the rainy season in April through May 2019 and the scheduled maintenance of the power stations at the Ubungo Complex in Dar es Salaam, the Company is maintaining current guidance for 2019 average daily production of between 75 - 85 MMscf/day.  

Source: Wentworth Resources

The Mnazi Bay Production Sharing Agreement (“Mnazi Bay”), is located onshore southern Tanzania (Mtwara region), approximately 410 km south of Dar es Salaam, covering an area of 756 km2.

The Mnazi Bay asset is operated by Maurel et Prom (48.06%) with the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation “TPDC” (20%) and Wentworth Resources (31.94%) as joint venture partners.

Commercial

Monthly payments in January and February 2019 for gas sales generated from the Mnazi Bay Concession of, in aggregate, $3.2 million net to Wentworth, have been received. These payments are post allocation of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation ("TPDC") receivable, adjusted to reflect the Ziwani-1 exploration well and associated 3D seismic costs as previously announced. Payments were received from both TPDC and Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited ("TANESCO") and due arrears from both off-takers remain at three months, having steadily reduced during the course of 2018. 

As a result of the continued demand and sustainable payment landscape, the Company continues to meet and pay-down its debt commitments from free cash-flow in 2019 and expects to be debt free with the final payment on its single outstanding loan facility falling due in January 2020. 

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