CAP AND ARMSTRONG SIGN PSC FOR HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION OFFSHORE
Aruba, May 31, 2024 - Compania Arubano di Petroleo (CAP), Aruba’s national oil company, is pleased to announce the signing of a Product Sharing Contract (PSC) with Andicuri Oil & Gas Exploration VBA (AOGX) for the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons offshore Aruba. AOGX is a local subsidiary of Armstrong International, LLC (“AI”) an American oil and gas exploration company. The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Evelyn Wever-Croes, Prime Minister of Aruba. The contract area covers a surface of 14,356 sq km, equivalent to approx. 3.5 million acres.
The Armstrong companies, among which are Armstrong Oil & Gas, Inc. (“AOG”) and Lagniappe Alaska, LLC (“Lagniappe”), have an outstanding exploration track record over the last 40 years, discovering multiple giant fields in Alaska including the 2.5+ billion-barrel Pikka field (discovered in 2013) and announcing last month a new and potentially large discovery at King Street #1. AI was created to explore global opportunities to apply the company’s industry expertise to chase large oil and gas fields.
In addition to the successful exploration campaign in Alaska’s harsh weather conditions, the geographical location has also required Lagniappe to successfully perform under rigorous environmental regulations, maintaining for over 20 years excellent relationships with the local stakeholders along with Borough, State, and Federal agencies. This was one of the key elements considered by CAP during the contract negotiations.
The AOGX team is loaded with experienced executives with an outstanding track record in exploration, including numerous discoveries in Aruba’s neighboring countries. To date, there have been 4 exploratory wells within Aruba’s maritime boundaries, 3 drilled in 1989/1990 to the Southwest of Aruba. The fourth one, Bon Bini 1-X, was drilled in 2018 to the Northwest of Aruba.
“A new chapter in Aruba’s exploration for hydrocarbons has officially started. Our world and way of life keep on evolving, along with our energy needs. CAP’s aim from day one has always been for Aruba to achieve energy independence and moreover, to achieve this in a social and environmentally responsible manner” Glenbert Croes, Minister of Labor, Energy and Integration said. “A successful exploration campaign will contribute to this goal and as a result benefit Aruba’s current generation, as well as the future generations to come.”
Bill Armstrong, President and CEO of AOG, added: “We are really encouraged about the potential of Aruba and we are optimistic that we will create significant value for this beautiful island and its people. We have been actively looking worldwide to leverage our exploration successes in the search for new oil and gas opportunities. Our preliminary geological and geophysical work indicates that there are multiple large play opportunities in Aruban waters with look-alike fields in the nearby countries of Venezuela, Trinidad-Tobago, Colombia and Guyana. Aruba is essentially unexplored. This is a very exciting time for Aruba.”
