From survival mode to a funded path to production
By 2018, Aminex had drilled two successful Ntorya wells, proving the Ruvuma basin’s scale. The problem was simple but stark: how could a junior with a stretched balance sheet fund a multi-hundred-million-dollar development?
The answer arrived in July 2018, when Aminex struck a farm-out agreement with ARA Petroleum Tanzania (APT), part of the Zubair Corporation of Oman. Under the deal:
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ARA would acquire 50% and take over operatorship.
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Aminex would retain 25%.
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Solo Oil continued to hold 25%.
The deal was approved by shareholders in early 2019, and completed in October 2020 after the long list of Tanzanian approvals was ticked off. For the first time in years, Aminex wasn’t scrambling for cash — it had a partner with the capital and the will to deliver.
The terms were transformational. Aminex secured:
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A $35 million carry through to production — meaning ARA would fund the development work while Aminex kept its 25% interest.
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Once gas flowed with the field under development, Aminex’s net cashflow was expected at $40 million per annum, without having shouldered the development costs.
For a company of Aminex’s size, it was nothing short of a lifeline. The burden of raising capital was lifted. The constant worry about dilution was gone. For the first time, Aminex could look forward with clarity: fully exposed to production upside, but without the crippling cost of building the project.
Meanwhile, the ownership picture shifted again in 2022, when Solo Oil (by then Scirocco Energy) exited Tanzania. Its 25% stake in the Ruvuma PSA was acquired by ARA, giving the operator 75% and leaving Aminex steady at 25% non-operated interest.
For investors, the farm-out was the moment Aminex’s survival story became an investment story again. Years of scraping by on placings and hope were over. The company was now free-carried into production on a field with billion-cubic-foot potential — a rare position for any junior in the sector.
➡️ Next time: Chapter Nine — Seismic & Scale-Up. With 3D seismic acquired and interpreted, Ntorya’s potential leapt from hundreds of billions of cubic feet into multiple trillions, redefining the project as Tanzania’s largest onshore gas development.