CALGARY, Alberta, March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The following was
released on behalf of the Board of Directors of Tracer Petroleum Corporation,
by Larry Youell, President and CEO:
TRACER PETROLEUM CORPORATION ("Tracer" or the "Company") is pleased to
report that further to the news release of February 27, 2003, the Company has
been advised by its legal counsel that it will not require shareholder
approval to complete the proposed acquisition of a 66 2/3rd % interest in
Forum Exploration Inc. of the Philippines ("Forum"), in exchange for US$10
million through the issuance of 100 million Tracer shares at a deemed value of
US$0.10 per share. As such, the Company intends to complete all necessary
documentation and close the acquisition by March 31, 2003.
In conjunction with the Forum acquisition, Tracer expects that it will
need to raise approximately US$2,000,000 through a contemplated equity
financing of 20,000,000 shares at US$0.10 per share. The Company previously
reported that it was attempting to negotiate the private placement, on a best
efforts basis, for up to 5 million shares at US$0.10 for gross proceeds of
US$500,000. The Company now intends to attempt to increase the private
placement amount to the full 20,000,000 shares at US$0.10 per share. No
assurances can be given that all or any such portion of additional equity
financing will be completed. The proceeds of such financing, if successful,
will be used in large part for the development of Forum's contract areas in
the Philippines.
The following information regarding Forum and its properties has been
derived from materials provided by Forum:
Forum personnel are currently mobilizing the drilling rig that is owned by
Forum, in anticipation of drilling an exploration well within the Maya Service
Contract 40 area on Cebu Island. The drilling of the well is planned to
commence before the end of March, 2003.
Maya Area
The Maya area lies at the northern tip of the island of Cebu and it has
been the subject of sporadic exploration activity since the late 1920's when
oil shows were encountered during the drilling of a shallow water well.
Several exploration wells were drilled in the 1960s and early 1970s by the
American Asiatic Oil Company, and by the Chinese Petroleum Company, in the
area known as the Central Maya Bulge. Some of these wells were reported to
have flowed oil on test, but sustained production at commercial rates was
never established, and interest in the area waned. Nevertheless, there is
anecdotal evidence that residents local to the Maya area harvested up to
80,000 litres of oil from one of the old Maya wells before the authorities put
a stop to the practice.
The oil-bearing horizon encountered by the Maya wells was the late Miocene
Maingit sandstone trapped within a domal closure. Forum has committed to re-
enter a well known as MST 11A, or drill a twin well to it in order to explore
the oil bearing potential of the zones below the Total Depth ("TD") of the
previous attempt, the Middle Miocene sandstone penetrated by well CMB-2 to the
south. Planned TD for the new attempt will be of the order of 1000 feet. The
only data available for the discovery well is that the well flowed 540 barrels
of 44 deg. API oil in a 203 hour test.
The budgeted well cost is very modest (US$150,000) and so at current oil
prices, less than ten thousand barrels should yield enough gross revenue to
pay the well cost plus the costs of some oil storage capacity and gas
disposal.
The Company also wishes to report that long term director of Tracer Steve
Jacobs has resigned his position as director effective March 15, 2003. We
wish to thank Mr. Jacobs for his many years of support and dedication to
Tracer and wish him well in his future endeavors. As previously announced
David M. Thompson joined the Board of Directors for Tracer Petroleum,
effective March 1, 2003.
This release contains "forward-looking statements" as per Section 21E of
the US Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Although the Company
believes that the expectations reflected in such forward looking statements
are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to
have been correct. Management is currently reviewing many options and there
is no assurance that they will not make decisions other than those now
contemplated. The Company is subject to political risks and operational risks
identified in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including changing and depressed oil prices, unsuccessful drilling results,
change of government and political unrest in its main area of operations.
For investor information please contact Larry Youell, CEO, at
250-491-7783, or the Company headquarters: TRACER PETROLEUM CORPORATION,
1113 Laval Avenue S.W., Calgary, AB T2T 1L2 Canada.
Phone: 403-290-1676 or Fax: 403-264-5285, "e-mail"
tracerinfo@tracerpetroleum.com or web site, http://www.tracerpetroleum.com
SOURCE Tracer Petroleum Corporation
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.tracerpetroleum.com
CONTACT:
Larry Youell, CEO of Tracer Petroleum
Corporation, +1-250-491-7783
|
