PetroNor negotiates Gambian licence extension to progress farm-out talks

Oil and gas exploration and production company PetroNor has negotiated a one-year extension for its A4 offshore licence in The Gambia, which will allow it to progress farm-out discussions with potential partners.

According to its statement on Tuesday, PetroNor has received, from the Government of The Gambia, a one-year extension to the longstop date of the licence until 18 October 2022, which will enable the company to progress its ongoing discussions with potential partners. The company has a 90 per cent interest in the licence while the remaining 10 per cent is held by the government of The Gambia.

PetroNor in September 2020 announced a settlement agreement with The Gambia, resulting in the reinstatement of the A4 licence to PetroNor. The company was then granted a period of one year, ending 18 September 2021, to process data and progress farm-out discussions. The company also relinquished any claims related to the A1 license.

Following the expiration of that period, PetroNor in September 2021 received a thirty-day extension to the longstop date of the licence, after which it waited for the government’s response to its request for the extension of the longstop date, which the company has now received.

Commenting on the extension, Eyas Alhomouz, Chairman of PetroNor, said: “We are delighted to have negotiated this extension which strengthens our long-standing partnership with the Government of The Gambia. After the successful reinstatement of the license, PetroNor has progressed discussions with a number of interested parties.”

Alhomouz further added: “This extension will hopefully enable the company to convert those discussions into a formal partnership agreement with a view to proving up the exciting prospectivity of A4. The market conditions and industry appetite for this kind of high-impact asset have vastly improved over the past few months which has solidified our confidence in realising value from this asset going forward.”