LONDON (Alliance News) - Gulfsands Petroleum PLC Monday said it has finalised agreements with Morocco's Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines, for a 75% interest in Moulay Bouchta, a newly created licence block in Morocco.
Gulfsands Petroleum has activities in Syria, Morocco, Colombia, Tunisia and the US.
The oil and gas production, exploration and development company said Monday that it will operate a 75% shareholding in the Moulay Bouchta permit and will carry all the costs for the exploration phase of the permit, while Morocco's Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines will retain a 25% participating interest.
The Moulay Bouchta permit is next to the company's existing permits - Fes and Rharb Sud - and spans 2,850 square kilometres.
"This area is considered to include the key remaining prospective acreage in an area where the existence of a working petroleum system has been confirmed with the discovery and development of three oil fields," the company said in a statement.
Gulfsands said that a portion of the permit area has already been the subject of a 175 square kilometre 3D seismic survey.
It said that in addition to the reprocessing and interpretation of legacy 2D and 3D seismic data, an additional 500 kilometres of 2D seismic data will be captured in a survey to be carried out during the first two year exploration period.
The company said it will also undertake a legacy oil field reactivation study during the first exploration period, as part of a minimum exploration work programme expected to cost around USD3.5 million.
Gulfsands shares were up 1.6% at 62.00 pence Monday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; rowenaharrisdoughty@alliancenews.com; @rharrisdoughty
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