24 October 2014 – Junior explorer Impact Oil and Gas reported Friday that it has been awarded a new exploration license covering the AGC Profond block, which is located offshore West Africa in the Senegal-Guinea Bissau Joint Development Zone (AGC).
The license covers approximately 2,500 square miles in water depths that range from 3,210 feet to more than 9,630 feet.
It is located in a proven petroleum area west of the Dome Flore and Dome Gea oilfields, adjacent to Impact’s Block 4B, offshore Guinea Bissau. Impact said the new license increase its total license holding in offshore West Africa to more than 37,000 square miles.
AGC Profond was previously held by a consortium led by Ophir Energy, which drilled the Kora-1 well in the northern part of the block in 2011.
The well was located on the crest of a salt piercement feature, and it encountered clay stone and limestone rather than the prognosed sandstone reservoir facies.
However, Impact said it believes that the block remains very prospective – particularly for Cretaceous fans which have been the target for recent successful drilling in Cairn’s Senegal Sagomar license located to the north of the AGC Profond Block.
The license area immediately to the east of the AGC Profond Block has been awarded to Oryx Petroleum. The initial term of Impact’s license lasts for three years.
During this period Impact expects to acquire, reprocess and interpret existing data on the license. Further seismic may be acquired if it is deemed necessary.
A well could be drilled before the end of the first period or during the first renewal period which lasts for two years. Impact, as the operator, has an 85-percent interest, together with Enterprise AGC, a Senegal-registered company, holding 15 percent in the license.
Impact Executive Chairman Mike Doherty commented in a company statement: “The award of offshore AGC Profond, Impact’s second license in the petroliferous Casmance basin, is an exciting addition to our growing world class portfolio of assets.
The recent discovery in the Sangomar license, announced by Cairn, has highlighted offshore Senegal as a very prospective region for good quality oils. As with our other licenses, we look forward to moving ahead quickly to explore this promising area.”
