THE STATE OFFICE National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (Onhym) has granted Irelands Island Oil & Gas and London-based Serica Energy two petroleum agreements for the continuous areas of Sidi Moussa Offshore and Foum Draa Offshore in the Agadir Basin.
The agreements are valid for up to eight years and toegether cover a total area of approximately 12,700 sq km in the sparsely explored Agadir Basin, 100km south west of Agadir.The areas are covered by over 5,200 sq km of modern 3D seismic and over 2,000 km of 2D seismic. The work programmes during the first 30 months of the Foum Draa agreement and the first 18 months of the Sidi Moussa agreement comprise seismic reprocessing and geological studies, and a “drill or drop” decision will be made at the end of the initial phases. Island said previous operators had identified more than 40 undrilled prospects and leads in the area from existing seismic. The areas extend from the shore to water depths of up to 2,000 m. The Joint Venture partners in the exploration permits are Island (50 per cent), the designated operator, Serica (25 per cent) and ONHYM (25 per cent)
