11.18.08
Seychelles Government agrees on oil exploration
The Government of Seychelles has agreed on terms for a petroleum agreement with 2 companies.
The agreement will cover oil exploration over 15 000 sq km of Seychelles’ waters. Now, its details are being completed. The agreement with East African Exploration (EAX) and its joint venture partner Avana Petroleum is planned to be signed soon.
EAX is part of the Dubai-based Black Marlin Energy group that will deal with geological and geochemical investigations over the next 2 years. In the 2nd phase, it will open an oil well, which can be completed as early as in 2011. It should be noted that the agreement comes after 2 years of a study of a 43 000 sq km area carried out by EAX and Avana under a technical evaluation licence.
Chief executive of Black Marlin Energy, Jeff Hume, said that the company is pleased to announce completion of negotiations with Seypec and it looks forward to formal signing of the petroleum agreement in the nearest future. He said that the company has been engaged in Seychelles for 3 years and built up much knowledge about an active and potentially prolific petroleum system.
Chief executive of Avana, Sam Malin, expressed his satisfaction with the opportunity to work under a petroleum agreement with a view to appraise and develop the attractive assets and to continue our co-operate with the Seychellois authorities.