PetroNor adds Guinea Bissau blocks to portfolio

Independent oil and gas exploration and production company PetroNor has added a high potential acreage offshore Guinea Bissau to its portfolio following a purchase of SPE Guinea Bissau AB.

SPE Guinea Bissau AB is a subsidiary of Swedish oil and gas company Svenska Petroleum.

PetroNor said on Friday that the purchase entitles it to assume the operatorship and interest of 78.57 per cent of the Sinapa (Block 2) and Esperanca (Blocks 4A and 5A) licences in Guinea Bissau subject to the government approval.

The contiguous Sinapa and Esperanca permits are located within the Casamance salt sub-basin offshore Guinea-Bissau.

The licences have been extended for three years and are valid until 2 October 2023 maintaining the same attractive fiscal terms, PetroNor added.

PetroNor CEO, Knut Søvold, said: “This is a key strategic addition to PetroNor’s portfolio building in this highly attractive exploration trend. Along with the reinstated A4 licence in The Gambia and our acreage in Senegal, the equity available to potential farminess is a highly attractive material opportunity. PetroNor is continuing its work to bring in partners to fund a drilling campaign across all assets in the next few years”.

The purchase of these blocks is aligned with PetroNor’s strategy to grow position in this highly prospective trend that continues to be a hotspot for exploration activity.

The Atum and the Anchova prospects in the deeper waters of the western part of the licensed area are currently the main drilling targets.

They are analogous to the world-clas Sangomar field in Senegal. The prospects are ‘drill ready’, benefitting from technical work delivered to date by Svenska Petroleum Exploration and partner FAR Ltd.

According to PetroNor, the two commercially attractive prospects contain net combined P50 recoverable prospective resources of 568 mmbo (PDC 2019 CPR for SPE).

The partners are starting the review of the rig market with a view to drilling activity in 2021/22.