Global Petroleum Limited has been granted a 12-month extension on the Initial Exploration Period for its Petroleum Exploration Licence 29, situated in Namibia’s Walvis Basin, which is now be valid until December 2015
The Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy had agreed to extend the term on the basis of an agreed work programme, which entails further interpretation work on existing seismic data, the company said.
Global Petroleum Limited was also undergoing talks to renew the offshore Juan de Nova Est Permit, a French territory in the Mozambique Channel, for a five-year term. If renewal was granted, the explorer would become the operator with an increased equity in the permit.
Global Petroleum Limited CEO Peter Hill said, “We believe that the drastic fall in the oil price over the last few months has vindicated our strategy of being highly selective regarding the type and quality of the assets which might be potential additions to the company’s portfolio. We have reviewed an extremely large number of opportunities over the last two years — the variable quality of the assets available is underlined by the length of time for which many of them have been on the market.
“Over the reporting period there has been a further significant increase in the number of companies which are seeking solutions for assets starved of finance — this is unsurprising in a period when it is very challenging for small-cap E&P companies to raise either debt or equity, and we do not expect this to improve any time soon. The fact that we have maintained our relative financial strength in relation to our peers puts us in a good position to profit from the new market realities whether by asset acquisition or via corporate combination.”
Global Petroleum Limited holds an 85 per cent participating interest in Petroleum Exploration Licence 29, consisting offshore blocks 1910B and 2010A, and covers 11,730 sq km in water depths ranging from 1,200 metres to 3,000 metres. State-owned petroleum company NAMCOR has a 10 per cent carried interest and private firm Bronze Investments Namibia holds the remaining five per cent stake.
In the Juan de Nova Est Permit, the company holds a 30 per cent participating interest issued by the French Government in December 2008. It is located to the east of Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Mozambique. Wessex Exploration is the operator and 70 per cent interest holder. The permit covers approximately 9,010 sq km in water depths ranging from 200 metres to approximately 3,000 metres.
