LONDON (Alliance News) - Global Petroleum Ltd said Thursday that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jupiter Petroleum (Namibia) Ltd, has agreed a 12-month extension of its petroleum exploration licence No.29 in the Walvis Basin offshore Namibia.
The oil and gas exploration company which is currently focused on emerging plays in Africa and the Mediterranean, said the subsidiary has agreed with the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy a 12-month extension of the initial exploration period of the No.29 licence, which covers two Blocks, 1910B and 2010A.
The initial exploration period of the licence will now be valid until December 2015.
Global Petroleum said entering into the second period of the licence, which was scheduled to commence in December 2014, would involve a commitment to drill a well, and therefore the company has agreed with the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy to instead extend the initial exploration period on the basis of a "mutually acceptable work programme," which entails further interpretation work on existing seismic data.
The Jupiter subsidiary remains the operator of the licence, with an 85% interest in the two blocks, with partners NAMCOR and Bronze Investments Pty Ltd holding 10% and 5% respectively, both as carried interests.
"We remain optimistic about the potential of our Namibian blocks, given the technical differentiation between our prospects and the target drilled at Welwitschia-1A," said Global Petroleum CEO Peter Hill.
"Whilst we continue to seek a partner with a view to funding the future work programme on the Licence, commencing with 3D seismic, we are mindful of the wider context which is that disappointing drilling results both in Namibia and in Atlantic margin frontier plays generally have affected industry and market sentiment. This sentiment has undoubtedly had a bearing on our farm-out process in Namibia, and we intend to take it into consideration in assessing the risk profile of potential new opportunities to complement our existing assets," added Hill.
Shares in Global Petroleum were Thursday morning trading marginally lower, down 0.80% at 3.72 pence per share.
By Alice Attwood; aliceattwood@alliancenews.com; @AliceAtAlliance
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