Nigeria approves three-year extension to Ogo partners

Optimum Petroleum and Lekoil, partners in the Ogo discovery located in OPL 310 block offshore Nigeria, have been granted a three-year extension of the license from the country’s authorities.

Lekoil informed on Friday that, pursuant to a letter dated September 4, 2019, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources had approved the extension of OPL 310’s exploration license for three years.

This is subject to the holders of the license paying an extension fee of $7.5 million within 90 days effective from August 2, 2019, according to Lekoil.

Lekoil expects to fund 100 percent of the license fee from a mix of existing financial resources and a potential funding partner as previously reported at the end of August 2019.

Both Optimum Petroleum Development Company and Lekoil Nigeria Limited (acting through its wholly owned subsidiary, Mayfair Assets and Trust Limited) have agreed to progress the appraisal of the block and subsequent conversion to an Oil Mining License (OML) at the end of the exploration period, as soon as practicable.

Following a successful appraisal, a full field development (FFD) program will be undertaken for which Lekoil and Optimum are in advanced discussions with a potential funding partner.

Lekan Akinyanmi, Lekoil CEO, commented, “We are pleased to be working efficiently with Optimum and the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources to ensure timely approvals for our upcoming drilling and work program(s) and we now look forward to unlocking significant value from the asset for all stakeholders, who we thank for their continued patience and support through this prolonged process.”

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