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UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
6K
News Release dated June 1st, 2010
BONTAN
CORPORATION INC.
47 Avenue Rd. Suite 200
Toronto, ON
M5R 2G3
NEWS
RELEASE
OPERATOR
IS APPOINTED FOR MYRA AND SARA OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LICENSES
Toronto, Ontario, June 1, 2010
– Bontan Corporation Inc. (OTCBB: BNTNF, FSE: BZ3) (”The Company”, “Bontan”) is
pleased to announce the following:
347/Myra
and 348/Sara Licenses
Geoglobal
Resources (India) Inc. (“GGR”, “The Operator”) has been appointed as operator
for the two offshore licenses, 347 ”Myra” and 348 “Sara”, in which Bontan holds
an indirect 11% net working interest through its interest in Israel Petroleum
Company Ltd. (“IPC”). An application was submitted on May 20, 2010 to
the Petroleum Commissioner to approve transfer and registration of the
participation rights in the two licenses.
GGR is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Geoglobal Resources Inc. The publicly
traded oil and gas company is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and it trades on
the American Stock Exchange under the symbol AMEX: GGR. GGR is
currently involved in the exploration of oil and natural gas reserves in four
geological basins located offshore and onshore in India. GGR will acquire a 5%
working interest in the two licenses from the existing partners proportionately
from their respective shares. Thus, Bontan’s indirect working interest in the
two licenses, through its 76.79% interest in IPC, will change from 11% to
10.450% upon such acquisition. GGR is also given an option to acquire an
additional 5% of the Sara and Myra licenses from the existing partners in
accordance with their relative share in the transfer request. GGR will pay their
share of expenses incurred by the existing partners to date. A joint
Operating Agreement will be signed with GGR within sixty days.
GGR has
applied separate from IPC and its partners, for the “Samuel” License, an
additional license located within the territorial waters of the State of
Israel. As per the agreement signed between IPC and its partners and
GGR, as operator, GGR has agreed to grant the existing partners of the Sara and
Myra licenses an option to purchase up to 12.5% in accordance with their pro
rata share if the license is granted to GGR by the Petroleum Commissioner. The
exact cost of acquisition is not yet determined.
Michal
License (within Benjamin Permit)
An
application has been submitted with the Ministry of Petroleum for the “Michal”
license where GGR is named as operator with a 5% working interest. If granted
Bontan’s share will be 10.450%. The Operator is again granted an
option to acquire an additional 5% from the remaining partners in accordance
with their pro rata part in the license request. The Operator will have to pay,
if they decide to exercise the option, for each 1% of the additional
participation rights, half of the existing partners incurred expenses incurred
to the date of the application.
Kam Shah
CEO of Bontan commented “We are very pleased that GGR has agreed to become our
operator. They bring significant experience and expertise in deep
water exploration that will allow our group to ultimately maximize our drilling
opportunities in the East Med. We look forward to a successful
partnership.”
About
The Offshore Israel Project
The
Offshore Israel Project is comprised of two Licenses – Sara and
Myra. These licenses cover approximately 310 square miles and are
located in the Levantine Basin near the recent 6.3 TCF Tamar 1, Tamar 2, and the
Dalit natural gas discoveries by Noble Energy Inc.
The
rights to licences are held by a group comprising of Bontan’s majority-owned,
Israel Petroleum Company, Limited (“IPC”), Tel Aviv-based Emanuelle Energy Ltd.
(“Emanuelle”), IDB-DT Energy (2010) Ltd. (“IDB-DT”), and PBT under an Agreement
entered into on March 24, 2010.
The
rights to licenses are currently listed in PetroMed’s name on the registry
maintained by the Israel Ministry of National Infrastructures (“MNI”). PetroMed
is now effectively controlled by one of the group members and has given
unconditional release to the group for transfer of its rights. Conditioned on
the MNI’s transfer approval, IPC, Emanuelle IDB-DT, and PBT will receive
respective working interests on the Registry of 14.325%, 50.865%, 25.56%, and
9.25% in PetroMed’s share of the Licenses.
The Prospective Resource Evaluation
Report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 51-101, Section 5.9
standards for review and assessment of prospective resources has been updated as
of May 1, 2010 by Chapman Petroleum Engineering Ltd, an independent Calgary
based consulting firm (http://www.chapeng.ab.ca/). According to this report, below is
an extract from the report relating to the before and after risk
values of the evaluated prospects using forecast prices and
costs:
|
Company
Net Value, US Dollars, Sara and Myra Licenses
|
||
|
Before
Risk
Combined
Prospects
|
After
Risk
Combined
Prospects
|
|
|
Undiscounted
|
$2.7
billion
|
$807
million
|
|
Discounted
@ 5%/year
|
$1.4
billion
|
$410
million
|
|
Discounted
@ 10%/year
|
$765
million
|
$220
million
|
About
Bontan Corporation Inc.
Bontan
Corporation Inc. is an oil and gas exploration company that operates and invests
in exploration prospects. Through its subsidiaries, Bontan seeks
highly visible opportunities in countries around the globe with a history of
natural resource production that offer exciting and attractive
propositions. Bontan seeks to minimize risk by bringing in either
joint venture, carried or working interest partners, depending on the size and
scale of the project.
For
further information, refer to our website www.bontanoilandgas.com or
contact John Robinson at (416) 860-0211.
Forward-Looking
Statements
This news
release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S.
federal and Canadian securities laws. Any such statements reflect
Bontan’s current views and assumptions about future events and financial
performance. Bontan cannot assure that future events or performance
will occur. Important risks and factors that could cause actual
results or events to differ materially from those indicated in our
forward-looking statements, including: the effect of economic and
political developments in Israel; the discretion of the MNI to
cancel, extend the time for compliance with or otherwise waive requirements of,
the Licenses or to reinstate the Permit; the discretion of the MNI to
officially transfer the Licenses on the Registry to IPC and our other partners;
the reliance on Emanuelle, IDB-DT and IPC, as well as third-party consultants
and contractors, to develop the Project; the ability of Bontan and
IPC to raise sufficient capital and demonstrate adequate financial capability to
the MNI, and the associated dilution to current investors’ interests associated
with the issuance of additional debt and equity securities; the risk
that the Data may show or suggest, or that the License sites ultimately may
contain no, or limited amounts of, hydrocarbons; the volatility in
commodity prices for crude oil and natural gas; the presence or
recoverability of estimated reserves; the potential unreliability or
other effects of geological and geophysical analysis and
interpretation; exploration and development, drilling and operating
risks; competition for development of the
Project; environmental risks; government regulation or
other action; potential disruption from terrorist activities or
warfare in the region or at the Project site; general economic
conditions; and other risks we identify from time to time in our
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and securities
regulators in Canada. Bontan assumes no obligation and expressly
disclaims any duty to update the information in this Press Release.