History
Orca’s predecessor companies have been involved in oil and gas exploration and development in Africa since 1994.
Current production is from the Songo Songo gas field in Tanzania. This field, like many large discovered pools of natural gas in the developing world, had been until recently considered “trapped gas” because there was no infrastructure in place to transport the gas and no markets had been developed. To bring Songo Songo on line and to build markets for natural gas sales in East Africa, Orca’s predecessor companies acquired an interest in the Songo Songo offshore natural gas properties, attracted industrial partners to the project, and facilitated the financing of the project by a consortium of multi-lateral lending agencies led by the World Bank. Initially, the development of the field was focused primarily on meeting the needs of a single gas-to-electricity power plant at Dar es Salaam.
In 2001, the Company sold its power generation interests in the project to The AES Corporation, while retaining the additional reserves associated with the uncommitted gas in the Songo Songo field. Currently, the Company holds approximately 41,630 acres (170 km2) in the Discovery Block following relinquishment of the Adjoining Blocks.
Orca Exploration Group Inc. previously operated as EastCoast Energy Corporation. EastCoast Energy was originally a subsidiary of PanOcean Energy Corporation, but in August 2004, it was distributed to the shareholders and separately listed on the TSXV under the symbols ECE.A and ECE.B. On 14 November 2006 EastCoast Energy shareholders approved a name change to Orca Exploration Group Inc. Upon approval of regulatory authorities, Orca commenced trading on the TSXV on 4 April 2007.