Oil and gas company Tower Resources has awarded a contract for support in preparing an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the drilling of multiple wells on its Thali license off Cameroon.
The ESIA is a process governed by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development of Cameroon (MINEPDED).
The contract was awarded to CIME Services Sarl of Cameroon (CIME) and covers the preparation and approval by MINEPDED of the terms of reference of the ESIA, the preparation of a stakeholder consultation report, and support through public hearings and the submission of the ESIA report to the MINEPDED for approval, Tower Resources said on Monday.
It is expected that the ESIA process will be completed by June 2018.
The completion and approval of the ESIA constitutes an important step before launching the drilling campaign on the Thali license, the company explained. Tower also recently awarded a contract to DMT Petrologic for the reprocessing of 3D seismic data over and around the Thali license.
Jeremy Asher , Chairman & CEO, commented: “Commencing the ESIA process now is important to enable Tower to be in a position to commence drilling in the second half of 2018.”
Asher also added: “This represents a further step towards our goal of reaching oil production at Thali as soon as possible.”
Tower Resources holds a 100% interest in the shallow water Thali (formerly known as “Dissoni”) Production Sharing Contract (PSC), in the Rio del Rey basin, offshore Cameroon. Tower was awarded the PSC on September 15, 2015, for an Initial Exploration Period of three years.
The Thali PSC covers an area of 119.2 km², with water depths ranging from 8 to 48 meters, and lies in the prolific Rio del Rey basin, in the eastern part of the Niger Delta.