Australian independent Far has commenced steps to withdraw from its interests in the Esperanca Blocks 4A & 5A and Sinapa Block 2 offshore Guinea Bissau, the company said today.
The licenses are operated by PetroNor E&P with a 78.57% interest while FAR holds the remaining 21.43%.
In October 2020, the current exploration phases for the blocks were extended for 3 years and are now valid until October 2023, with an obligation to drill an exploration well. Since 2021, PetroNor and FAR had been undertaking a full review of a potential well location for the 2023 program. The Atum Propsect is believed to be the key drill target and is mapped to contain Best Estimate Prospective Resource of 471m barrels (unrisked P50).
FAR’s exit from Guinea-Bissau follows its exit from the Sangomar Offshore Oil Project offshore Senegal last year after being in default of payment.
However, FAR continues to be present offshore The Gambia, where it is operator with a 50% interest of Blocks A2 & A5. While the results of its Bambo-1 well on Block A2 were unsuccessful, FAR did not throw the towel and has highgraded three of the four mapped prospects for potential drilling: Panthera in Block A2, and Jatto and Malo in Block A5. The company’s best estimate (P50) for these three prospects is of 1.5 billion barrels of prospective resource volumes.