Chariot Oil and Gas has finalised a deal to farm out some of its shallow and deepwater acreage in the Barreirinhas Basin offshore Brazil.

Announcing the agreement with AziLat, a subsidiary of the Azimuth Group which already holds 41 oil and gas exploration licences worldwide, Chariot said AziLat had agreed to take 25% equity in four of Chariot’s Barreirinhas blocks, in exchange for paying 50% of the cost of 3-D seismic acquisition and processing over the acreage. Chariot retains 75% equity in the blocks and remains operator.

The agreement covers blocks BAR-M-292, BAR-M-293, BAR-M-313 and BAR-M-314, encompassing 768 sq km (296 sq miles), and lying 70 km (43.75 miles) offshore in water depths ranging from 85-1,700 m (278-5.576 ft). Azimuth is backed by a global energy investor, the Seacrest Group.

Chariot says the location of the Barreirinhas Basin along the transform margin puts it geologically close to related basins offshore Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, where major fields have already been discovered.

Using 2-D data, Chariot has identified source rock for hydrocarbon generation, which is supported by potential seismic direct hydrocarbon indicators. “Whilst this is a frontier province with only three deepwater wells to date, the giant discoveries on the conjugate margin in Ghana have demonstrated the same deepwater play components of source, reservoir and seal encountered in wells drilled adjacent to Chariot’s acreage,” the company says.

Tendering is underway for a 1,000 sq km 3-D survey over the blocks, which is scheduled to be carried out in the first half of next year, fulfilling all current block commitments. While Chariot has also signalled that a further seismic partnering process is underway – to reduce risk and financial exposure – drilling on the acreage could take place in the first half of 2016 or 2017.

Furthermore 10 deepwater wells by other companies are already slated for the Barreirinhas Basin over the next four years, the company notes, one of which is due to spud within the next six months.

Larry Bottomley, Chariot’s chief executive, pointed out that the approach from AziLat was unsolicited: “Our recent placing, and this farm-out have provided us with the financial flexibility to accelerate our work programme and undertake the 3-D acquisition across our Brazilian acreage as soon as possible, allowing us to take advantage of the current seismic market conditions.”