Manas Petroleum Corp. (MNAP.OB) Announces Kickoff of Albanian Seismic Program

Seismic operations in Albania, on Blocks D-E and Blocks 2-3, have begun according to plan and on schedule with completion expected in October this year, as Petromanas has secured all licenses and permits and arrayed at the site both equipment and contractor personnel.

Consisting of some 250km of 2D seismic surveying, this program will include the 105km stipulated by the license’s required work commitments, and will be largely executed via heliportable rigs, with support from a few typical shallow drilling rigs utilized at key locations.

This survey will enhance existing prospect data and lead to new insights and analyses which support a greater chance of success with exploratory wells to be drilled after the data has been thoroughly vetted and compared.

Petromanas wholly-owned subsidiary, Manas Adriatic GmbH, signed two Land Seismic Services agreements with Italian hydrocarbon exploration industry veteran and seismic specialist, Geotec S.p.A, on May 27 of this year for Blocks D-E and Blocks 2-3 (the Albanian onshore Production Sharing Contracts).

The Company acquired three production sharing agreements spanning blocks A, B, D, E, 2 and 3 on the northern flank of the oil-rich fold and thrust belt in Albania (approved by the National Agency of Natural Resources and ratified by the Energy Ministry), which were previously operated by Shell Exploration and Production with Coparex.

Primary exploration targets for MNAP are sub-thrust fractured carbonate reservoirs at depths up to 4km, as visualized by 2D seismic data from the 1990s that indicates a large carbonate sub-thrust through blocks B, D and E, with two major culminations which merge below 5,100m into a single 170 sq km structural closure:

• South Tirana at 4,600m in Block E similar to the Cakran oil and gas field
• North Tirana at 3,750m extending to B, D and E including the Rinas prospect

Focused on Europe, Central Asia and Mongolia, MNAP participates through its equity interest in Petromanas in a 1.7M acre project in Albania and has signed a USD$54M farm-out agreement with a subsidiary of Australia’s number three oil and gas firm, Santos International Holdings Pty Ltd in Kyrgyzstan, who is also developing the Company’s license next door in Tajikistan via an option farm-out agreement.

The Company is also starting a huge 2D seismic program in Mongolia adjacent to one of China’s (Sinopec) largest producing oil fields.