Premier Oil said it has reached agreement with Occidental Petroleum Corp to farm out 40 per cent of its 100 per cent interest in certain blocks offshore Guinea Bissau in West Africa.
The agreement covers Blocks 2, 4A and 5A, also known as the Sinapa and Esperanca blocks.
Premier will retain operatorship of the field. A drilling rig has been contracted to begin drilling the Sinapa-2 well in the first quarter of 2004 to test a 250 million barrel oil prospect, one of a number of similar prospects on the blocks, it said.
Premier and Occidental have also jointly been granted two new licences covering blocks 7B and 7C, also offshore Guinea Bissau, subject to Guinea Bissau government final approval.
Premier, as operator, has a 25 per cent paying share while Occidental has a 75 per cent share. They plan to begin operations by acquiring a 2D seismic survey in 2004, Premier said.
AFP