The board of Sprint Energy has entered an option agreement with Electrosecur to invest in Bakcharneftegaz (BNG) holder of License Block 71-1 in the prolific Tomsk basin in West Siberia.

The West Siberian basin is the largest oil and gas producing region in Russia, both in the geographical area it covers and the recoverable oil and gas that it contains. The oil resources in the West Siberian basin are extremely large. The US Geological Survey estimates volumes of discovered hydrocarbons in the basin are 144 Bbbl of oil and more that 1,300 Tcf of gas. Estimated ultimate recovery is almost 232 Bbbl of oil. Approximately 70% of the oil produced in Russian comes from the West Siberian basin.

Block 71-1, with a combined area of 34 sq km (13 sq miles) is located in the southwestern section of the Tomsk basin and is surrounded by a cluster of oil production centers. License 86, lies immediately adjacent to the west, is owned by Imperial Energy. Block 86 produces in excess of 15,000 boe/d.

The existing seismic coverage over License Block 71-1 has been reprocessed using modern techniques. The seismic shows good structural control over potential targets in what appears to be a paleo-reef carbonate environment of Palaeozoic age. Interpretation of wireline logs from the two wells along with the seismic interpretation, suggests a target interval of up to 800 m (2,625 ft) thick below the Jurassic unconformity between approximately 3,200 m(10,499 ft) to 4,000 m (13,123 ft).

BNG has advised that their planned work program, which has already commenced on site, will initially focus on the re-entry of Well #4 to collect additional technical data. The well-head pressure in Well #4 is lower and makes for a less risky reentry. The second part of the work program will be a re-entry of Well #2 (high pressure well subject to the blow-out) if appropriate risk analysis is satisfied. A proposed new well location (Well #5) has been planned at the center of the reef structure some 4 km to the northwest of Well #2. BNG considers this location to have a positive risk/reward ratio given that Well #2 is already a discovery.

The two existing wells have oil saturations in various zones in both the Jurassic and Palaeozoic sequences. A review suggests that the location of the first two wells was not optimal, as they are toward the edge of the postulated structure. BNG believes the proposed Well #5 is a relatively low risk exploration/appraisal well.

Subject to Sprint shareholder approval and the satisfactory outcome of the due diligence, Sprint will execute the option with Electrosecur Ltd. and acquire a 74% percent interest in BNG for the issue of 19 % equity in Sprint and US $800,000. A milestone agreement also has been agreed should the project define a minimum volume of 50 MMboe P2 (proven and probable) reserves.