AIM-listed Chariot, the Africa focused transitional energy company, has announced its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Adonis Pouroulis, CEO commented:
'Since our last set of results we have progressed all of the assets that sit within our natural gas, renewables and green hydrogen pillars and, importantly, we have further de-risked each division of the business. In Morocco, we secured a highly experienced partner for our offshore Anchois gas project, secured new acreage and successfully drilled in the contiguous Loukos Onshore licence. We have materially increased our exposure to renewable energy generation and electricity trading in South Africa, furthered our financing and development plans for our power business and advanced our green hydrogen projects in both Mauritania and Morocco.
We are excited about the ongoing activities and catalysts ahead of us with our forward plans for Loukos, drilling at Anchois in August and moving into the next phases of evolution for Power and Hydrogen. Going forward, we are focused on generating near-term cashflows from our gas business with our overriding ambition to return capital to shareholders from these revenues. While we will continue to pursue new opportunities, we see great scale and value across our current asset base and are fully focused on delivery throughout 2024 and beyond.'
Key Highlights throughout 2023 and post period:
Transitional Gas
Offshore Morocco:
- Completion of Front End Engineering and Design ("FEED") for the Anchois gas development project ("Anchois") in the Lixus licence offshore Morocco
- Partnership agreed with Vivo Energy to develop a gas to industry market in Morocco
- Environmental Impact Assessment approval received for Anchois development
- Partnership agreements signed and completed with Energean plc ("Energean") on the Lixus and Rissana licences offshore Morocco
- Focused on expansion and delivery of Anchois
- Formal approvals duly received from the Moroccan authorities
- Rig contract signed with Stena Drilling for Stena Forth drill ship
- Appraisal and development well to be drilled in Q3 2024 with option for an additional well
Onshore Morocco:
- Award of new licence Loukos Onshore ("Loukos") in July 2023
- Environmental Impact Assessment approval received for drilling on Loukos and construction activities and permitting conducted within 10 months of licence award
- Initial drilling campaign commenced and successfully completed in May 2024 safely, efficiently, on time and on budget
- The RZK-1 well drilled on the Gaufrette prospect confirmed good quality reservoir and multiple gas shows, though was sub economic
- Gas discovery confirmed from drilling the OBA-1 well at the Dartois prospect - gross interval approximately 70m of primary interest identified
- OBA-1 well has been cased and cemented with a Christmas tree installed for rigless flow testing and potential use as a future producer
Transitional Power
- Strategic Review underway to secure financing and enable ongoing growth and development of the portfolio
Power to Mining projects:
- Operational Essakane 15MW solar project at IAMGOLD's gold mine in which Chariot has a 10% share in Burkina Faso, continues to perform well
- Progressing development of three key renewable projects in Africa:
- Tharisa - 40MW solar project in South Africa
- Karo - 30MW solar project in Zimbabwe
- First Quantum Minerals - 430MW solar and wind projects in Zambia
Electricity Trading:
- Increased stake in South African Electricity Trading joint venture Etana Energy (Pty) Limited to 49%
- Enables Chariot's participation in large renewable generation projects - 400MW of gross wind generation capacity identified
- Focused on securing multiple electricity offtake agreements with a range of consumers - supply deals signed up with Growthpoint Properties and Autocast with others under negotiation
- Renewable energy wheeled for the first time through Cape Town's grid
Water:
- Successfully commissioned the proof of concept water project in Djibouti in June 2023
- Evaluating other opportunities within Africa
Green Hydrogen
- Feasibility study completed on Project Nour in Mauritania alongside partner TEH2 (80% owned by TotalEnergies and 20% owned by the EREN Group)
- Confirms world class scale, outlines first phase pathway for domestic and export development
- Partnership agreements extended with UM6P and Oort Energy on proof of concept projects in Morocco
- Other green hydrogen projects under evaluation and development
Corporate
- Placing and oversubscribed open offer successfully raised US$19.1 million in June 2023
- Cash position as at 31 December 2023 $6.0 million
- US$10 million received on completion of Energean deal in April 2024
- No debt and minimal work commitments
Source: Chariot
