LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Oil and gas exploration company Eco Atlantic has negotiated the reissue of its four licences in the Walvis Basin, offshore Namibia, it announced on Monday, conditional to the customary final government signature.
The AIM-traded firm said it had agreed terms and conditions and been awarded the four new petroleum exploration licences (PELs) on its existing offshore blocks, leading to the expansion of its acreage position.

Those licences are Cooper, Sharon and Tamar, where it is majority owner and operator, and Guy, where it is the majority partner with a working interest of 47.2%.

Eco said it had negotiated the reissue and establishment of a new 10-year life cycle for each of the four licences, with each licence having a participation of a standard 10% working interest with Namibia's national petroleum corporation Namcor.

The company said it had negotiated and established a 5% working interest with local Namibian business partners on each block.

Azinam Group also participates in a minority capacity on the Cooper, Sharon and Guy Blocks.

With the establishment of the new licences, the company said it had doubled the size of its Guy block acreage, increasing the potential for new prospective targets in the deeper horizon to the West of the block.

The new licences cover about 28,593 square kilometres, with more than 2.362 billion barrels of oil equivalent of prospective P50 resources.

"Successfully renegotiating our four licences offshore Namibia and being awarded over 28,500 square kilometres in one of the most exciting exploration hotspots in the world is a significant milestone for Eco," said president and chief executive officer Gil Holzman.

"Participation in the regional exploration with a number of the major IOCs now in Namibia, and having the Namibia Ministry of Mines and Energy acknowledge both our long term investment and our contribution to the fundamental exploration of the region, is very meaningful, both for us as a business and an explorer.

"Eco has made a significant investment in these offshore blocks in the Walvis Basin to date and we have been able to increase our already substantial footprint - now the second largest after ExxonMobil - in a highly prospective region that has attracted the interest of a number of the major IOCs."

Holzman said the recent wildcat discoveries in South Africa and the entry into Namibia by ExxonMobil, Total, Qatar Petroleum and Shell over the last few years gave the company "significant confidence" that further discoveries would soon be made in Namibia.

"Near term, we look forward to drilling campaigns planned by Total, Shell, M&P, and ExxonMobil.

"These companies are amongst the leading oil finders in the world. The new licenses represent a strategic value creation opportunity for Eco Atlantic, amid the increased interest in the area."

At 1622 GMT, shares in Eco Atlantic were up 4.95% at 20.99p.

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