London based Soco International has won three permits offshore the Republic of Congo.
The international oil and gas exploration and production company was informed yesterday that the applications for a 25-year exploitation permit had been adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Congo.
It will allow the firm to access the Viodo, Lideka and Loubana areas.
These applications covered areas that were previously part of the shallow water Marine XI permit, which expired at the end of March 2017 following a one-year extension.
These applications are in addition to the Lidongo PEX, also formerly part of Marine XI, which was validated in September 2016 by the Council of Ministers.
SOCO EPC holds a 40.39% interest and is designated Operator of each of the Lidongo, Viodo, Lideka and Loubana permit areas.
Project partners in each permit are WNR, SNPC, AOGC and PetroVietnam Exploration and Production.
SOCO will assess the future programme in line with wider strategy and update the market in due course.