Aminex Approves $75m Ntorya Programme - NT-3 and Further Wells Move Forward

Joint Venture Approves Up to $75 Million of Work

Aminex's wholly owned Tanzanian subsidiary Ndovu Resources and operator ARA Petroleum Tanzania recently met to consider both the revised 2026 work programme and budget and the provisional programme for 2027.

Both have now been approved by the joint venture.

Together they envisage gross expenditure of up to $75 million across the remainder of 2026 and 2027.

That is a significant commitment to Ntorya at a point when the field is moving from infrastructure construction towards production and sustained development activity.

The figure also gives investors a much clearer indication of the scale of work now envisaged beyond first gas. The programme includes well intervention, testing, flowlines, gas processing equipment, drilling NT-3 and potentially further drilling at NT-E and NT-W, followed eventually by the obligatory CH-1 well.

The development programme is therefore no longer centred on one or two isolated operations. Ntorya is beginning to look like an active multi-well development campaign.

NT-2 Now Carries the December First-Gas Target

The clearest route to first production is now NT-2.

Aminex says removal of the bridge plugs and subsequent testing of NT-2 will begin in November 2026, followed by production into the Ntorya-Madimba pipeline in December.

The necessary flowlines will be constructed in parallel and completed before production begins, while the contract for the gas processing unit is expected to be signed later this month.

That provides a much more defined path to first revenue than investors previously had.

NT-2 does not now depend upon completion of NT-1 operations before Ntorya begins producing. Provided testing, flowlines, processing equipment and the pipeline are completed as scheduled, NT-2 can establish first production independently in December.

That distinction becomes particularly important because today's announcement introduces greater uncertainty around the timing of NT-1.

NT-1 Will Be Assessed Before Any Rig Workover

Wellhead maintenance and slickline operations on NT-1 remain scheduled to begin in October.

Those operations will determine whether a more substantial rig-operated workover is actually necessary.

This is new and useful detail. Rather than automatically proceeding directly into a full workover, APT will first assess the condition of the well using the October intervention programme.

If the initial work proves sufficient, the path towards production could be relatively straightforward.

If a rig-operated workover is required, however, Aminex says it will take place after drilling NT-3. In that circumstance, production from NT-1 would be delayed until December 2027.

That is clearly later than previously envisaged, but the important change in today's programme is that first gas no longer depends upon NT-1. NT-2 remains scheduled to begin production this December.

The revised structure therefore separates the immediate first-gas objective from the more extensive work that may ultimately be required to return NT-1 to production.

Ntorya-Central Becomes NT-3

The newly prioritised Ntorya-Central location now has a formal well designation.

It will be drilled as NT-3.

Aminex says negotiations to contract the drilling rig are at a very advanced stage, with the contract expected to be signed in October 2026 and NT-3 scheduled to spud in December.

That is particularly relevant after months of investor interest in the availability and identity of the drilling rig. Aminex has still not named the rig or contractor, but today's announcement considerably narrows the uncertainty: commercial negotiations are advanced and a contract is expected within weeks.

If NT-3 is successful, Aminex says the well will be incorporated into the Ntorya development and first gas from NT-3 could be available in September 2027.

That immediately gives NT-3 a dual importance. It is both a well capable of providing additional reservoir information and, if successful, a development well with a defined route into production.

NT-East and NT-West Enter the Programme

Perhaps the most interesting new information in today's RNS is the appearance of Ntorya-East and Ntorya-West.

Subject to the results from NT-3, the joint venture will have the option to drill up to two additional appraisal/development wells, NT-E and NT-W, on a back-to-back basis.

These would follow completion of NT-3 and, if required, the NT-1 workover.

This materially broadens the near-term drilling picture.

Only three weeks ago, attention was focused mainly on NT-Central and CH-1. Today's programme now raises the possibility of a sequence involving:

NT-3 → potentially NT-1 workover → NT-East → NT-West → CH-1

The precise order of NT-E and NT-W will depend upon the results of NT-3 and whether NT-1 requires rig intervention, but the direction is clear: APT is preparing options for a continuing drilling campaign rather than a single December well.

This also begins to show how the larger Field Development Plan may transition from a presentation of future locations into an actual sequence of development wells.

Why NT-3 Now Matters Even More

The introduction of NT-E and NT-W makes the December NT-3 well more strategically important than previously understood.

The RNS explicitly says the decision to drill those additional wells will depend upon the results from NT-3.

That suggests NT-3 is expected to provide information relevant to the positioning and justification of subsequent development activity across the field.

When APT first proposed bringing Ntorya-Central forward, Aminex explained that it had previously been planned as a later-stage development well and had been prioritised following APT's technical reappraisal of Ntorya.

Today's announcement begins to reveal what may follow that decision.

Rather than NT-Central simply replacing the timing of CH-1, it has now become the first well in what could develop into a sequence of additional Ntorya appraisal and development drilling.

CH-1 Remains an Obligation, But Moves to the End of the Sequence

CH-1 remains firmly within the programme.

Aminex describes it explicitly as an obligatory well under both the Development Licence and the Farmout Agreement, but says it will now be drilled at the end of the programme described in today's update.

That is a significant change in sequencing.

CH-1 was once expected to be the next major drilling event at Ntorya. The revised technical approach has progressively moved NT-Central ahead of it, and today's RNS potentially places NT-E, NT-W and an NT-1 workover ahead of CH-1 as well.

The important point is that CH-1 has not disappeared from the development. Its contractual status remains unchanged.

What has changed is the operator's preferred order of operations.

The emerging programme now appears designed to extract more information and potentially establish additional development wells across the existing Ntorya structure before moving on to the obligatory Chikumbi exploration target.

A Much Larger 2027 Drilling Programme Is Emerging

Today's announcement also gives investors their first meaningful view of what 2027 could look like operationally.

If NT-3 is successful, first gas from that well is targeted for September 2027.

If NT-1 requires a rig workover, its production would follow in December 2027.

Between and around those operations, the joint venture has the option to drill NT-E and NT-W back-to-back before eventually moving to CH-1.

Not all of those wells are guaranteed to be drilled during 2027, as the sequencing depends upon results as the programme progresses. Nevertheless, the approved provisional budget demonstrates that APT and Aminex are preparing financially for a considerably more active development programme than simply achieving first gas and stopping there.

The $75 million gross expenditure figure reinforces that point.

First gas is increasingly becoming the opening event in a much larger phase of Ntorya field development.

Pipeline Reaches 95% Pipelaying and Infilling

The Ntorya-Madimba pipeline also remains on schedule for completion in December.

TPDC has told Aminex that approximately 95% of pipelaying and infilling is now complete, while connection and metering work at the Madimba Gas Processing Plant is continuing.

That needs to be read alongside the recent China Petroleum Daily report stating that the 33.766 km pipeline achieved full-line connectivity on 14 September.

The two statements describe different measures of completion.

The Chinese contractor was reporting the physical connectivity of the pipeline itself. TPDC's percentage covers the wider pipelaying and infilling process while work continues on connections, metering and the remaining project infrastructure.

Together they indicate that the principal pipeline construction is very advanced, while final connection and commissioning-related activities continue towards December.