Clotarf Energy shares plummeted 70.1% to 0.1p in late morning trading on Monday after the oil exploration group confirmed its failure to intersect commercial hydrocarbons at its Sasanof-1 exploration well located 207 km northwest of Onslow, Western Australia.
The well was drilled to a total depth of 2,390 metres by the company’s Valaris MS-1 rig, with zero reported incidents.
Clontarf Energy confirmed that the well would be plugged and abandoned permanently, according to its plans, followed by the start of de-mobilisation activities.
The firm is currently exploring other opportunities, with a 49% joint-venture to explore and develop new salt lakes for lithium resources in Bolivia under discussion.
The policy is still under review since the country has not yet exported any battery-grade lithium.
Clontarf Energy also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Sedimentary Basin in Chad, and noted an export pipeline from the country with available capacity. The negotiations have been subject to a few issues including political uncertainty in the Sahel and funding.
The company is further waiting on the ratification of a signed Ghana Tano 2A Petroleum Agreement, with progress still pending following negotiations with the new government in May 2017 to confirm details of the agreement.
