Global Petroleum’s Namibia subsidiary has agreed a 12-month extension on petroleum exploration licence No.29 in the Walvis Basin.
Jupiter Petroleum (Namibia) has agreed with the country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) for the extension of the first exploration period.
The licence, which covers 1910B and 2010A blocks in the Walvis Basin, offshore Namibia, will be valid until December 2015.
The second period of the licence, which was planned to start in December, includes drilling a well.
Jupiter Petroleum has agreed with the MME to extend the first exploration period on the basis of a mutually acceptable work programme.
The company is now allowed to carry out additional interpretation work on the current seismic data.
Jupiter Petroleum operates the licence with an 85% stake in both of the blocks while the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) and Bronze Investments own 10% and 5% carried interests respectively.
Global Petroleum CEO Peter Hill said: “We remain optimistic about the potential of our Namibian blocks, given the technical differentiation between our prospects and the target drilled at Welwitschia-1A.
“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.”