Perenco has been the successful bidder as Operator for 5 Exploration licenses in the recent Brazilian 9th Round of Licensing in partnership with OGX. 74 E&P companies had applied; Perenco qualified in the Operator "A" group of 24 companies which included Petrobras, Shell, Exxon, ENI, Chevron.

The blocks are in the deep water (100-2000 m) sector of the Espirito Santo basin, and each covers an area of 720 square kilometres.

All licenses have an initial 4 year term. The commitment is the acquisition and processing of 2D and 3D seismic followed by the drilling of a total of 2 wells.

These exploration blocks offer a range of play types, prospects and leads which are on trend with the Golfinho light oil field which is scheduled to reach a plateau production level of 200 000 bopd in 2008.

This success represents Perenco’s second new country entry for an Exploration venture. This follows access of the Sindi-Amedi license in Kurdistan and expansion into the Central North Sea sector of the UK - these ventures demonstrate the intent to grow the Company through Exploration in new regions as well as our established countries. The combination of these licenses, plus any awards from other new venture efforts that are currently underway, will continue the process of replenishing the portfolio for the next generation of drilling.

Tags: Perenco