The following is a transcript from the AMA event held on December 10th at 9am PT https://ceo.ca/~tagama
CEO.CA would like to welcome the leadership team from TAG Oil Ltd. to today’s Ask Me Anything session. TAG Oil is an oil and gas exploration and production company focused on unlocking value in Egypt’s Western Desert, one of the most promising energy regions in the Middle East and North Africa. The company remains committed to disciplined development and creating long-term value for its shareholders.
Can you please start by telling us how does Tag Oil see the possible evolution of tight oil extraction in Egypt, especially the availability of qualified service companies in Egypt.
Egypt’s Western Desert holds significant potential to develop multi-billion-barrel oil resources, including meaningful tight-oil opportunities that can be developed in phases similar to early North American unconventional plays. Major service providers such as SLB and Halliburton are already active in Egypt, giving us access to the technology, completion expertise, and operational capacity needed to scale the ARF program over time.
What are the needs for continuous CAPEX to maintain production and the present timelines of payments from the Egyptiqn government for extracted oil?
All oil fields require ongoing drilling and capital to maintain and grow production. TAG plans its capital program with this in mind. EGPC payments have historically been inconsistent, but recent months have seen a significant improvement in timing, and the government has indicated a target of moving toward sub-90-day payment cycles.
Are you locked into doing a raise?
No. TAG Oil is not committed or obligated to raise capital. Any financing decision would depend on market conditions, at the right time, we can consider a raise.
Is there no likelihood of obtaining a JV partner on BED-1? If there is a possibility, is it still very unlikely?
We are continuing active efforts to secure a JV partner. Interest remains, and we believe the asset’s unconventional potential can attract the right partner; timing is the main variable. It is not “unlikely,” but securing a partner requires alignment on technical understanding, development plans, and capital commitments.
Why, after 18 months of searching, weren't you able to get a JV partner?
The active process has been closer to 12 months; The play is capital intensive for smaller companies, and larger companies are generally looking for scale when evaluating unconventional opportunities. The addition of the new, larger SERQ concession strengthens our overall platform and supports ongoing partner discussions.
What have potential JV partners provided as the reason(s) they won't join? Is it because of significant doubts about the ARF capability of producing in economic quantities?
No. Interest has been positive and the ARF is already producing. The hesitation has been driven by scale and portfolio fit rather than doubts about the reservoir’s capability.
Why won't a single potential JV partner be willing to provide $30,000,000 or so to fund an hz as well as a few verticals with an option of joining you on the entire BED-1 concession?
For many larger companies, ~$30M is typically deployed only when tied to a multi-year, multi-well development on a sizable land position. With SERQ now added, we believe the combined acreage improves the likelihood of a JV.
Why are key individuals bailing? Especially in context of TAG obtaining the SERQ concession.
This is a planned restructuring. Certain Canadian roles became redundant, the board streamlined the organization, appointed a new CFO, and strengthened the technical and operational team on the ground in Egypt.
What happened with the London based effort to secure a development partner, why has it failed? If no partner on the table, please how you can afford drilling another two wells in 2026 at the costs they stated as USD10-12m per well?
The London-based process did not fail, it generated meaningful engagement and feedback from potential partners and remains ongoing. With the addition of SERQ, we now have a larger and more compelling unconventional footprint, which is important for attracting companies with the expertise and scale suited to this type of development. Regarding future wells, we will assess funding options based on timing and value. Any decision will be made with a focus on maintaining financial discipline and maximizing shareholder value.
How would you rate yourselves on a scale of 1 - 10. What material changes have been made to bring your Operational Excellence up to a 9 or 10?
TAG’s team brings a proven track record of value creation. CEO, Abby Badwi has repeatedly built and sold successful energy companies including Kuwait Energy, Bankers Petroleum, Verano Energy, and Rally Energy, earning a strong reputation for unlocking resource potential and delivering shareholder returns. That experience shapes our approach today. With a strengthened technical team in Egypt and a sharper focus on planning and execution, we’re positioning TAG to operate with the same disciplined, value-driven mindset that has defined Abby’s past wins.
The previous well T100 had major technical problems and went way over budget. If you don't get another partner, what are you doing to make sure this doesn't happen again? Are you going to use the same crews and contractor?
We have strengthened our operations and drilling team to ensure the next phase of work is executed with tighter planning, oversight, and risk management. T100 provided a large amount of valuable data, and the lessons from that well have been fully incorporated into our forward program. As part of that, contractor and crew selections will be aligned with the capability, performance, and standards required for the next stage of development.
How much are costs per horizontal and vertical wells and how does production curves and economics really look like here?
TAG’s latest corporate presentation outlines current well costs and expected performance profiles. A new vertical ARF appraisal well is estimated at roughly 2.5 million USD, and future horizontal wells, completed with multi-stage fracture stimulation, are expected to fall in the 10–12 million USD range as the program scales
Production expectations and resource potential are supported by third-party assessments. RPS estimates 531.5 million barrels of Oil in Place at BED-1 and a development plan of 18–20 horizontal wells targeting peak production potential of up to 20,000 barrels per day
Stabilized production rates from existing ARF wells help inform the type curves, with initial horizontal IPs in the few-hundred-barrels-per-day range and cumulative production from T-100 already exceeding 37,000 barrels to date.
These independent resource estimates and well results underpin TAG’s view that the ARF has strong unconventional potential and supports encouraging project economics as the development program advances.
With billions of barrels of unconventional oil potential across BED-1 and SERQ, how do you view TAG Oil’s long-term development pathway and ability to scale production over time?
TAG Oil’s opportunity is significant. The combined resource potential across our concessions supports a long runway for phased development and meaningful production scalability. Our focus in the near term is on de-risking the ARF with additional vertical and horizontal wells, improving our technical understanding, and positioning the asset to attract a large-scale joint venture partner. Over time, this could evolve into a multi-year drilling program with increasing production, similar to early-stage unconventional developments in other basins.
If you have any further questions you can ask on TAG's channel https://ceo.ca/tao, where @TAGOil_IR actively monitors and responds to community members.
