North Sea oil firm Enegi has been given more time to explore its potentially lucrative licence off Newfoundland.
The company, which last month took out a £1million loan to buy back most of its stake from Canadian partner Black Spruce Exploration, has been given a further year for its St George’s Bay prospect.
The prospect is estimated to contain between 23million and 108million barrels of oil.
As part of the share buy-back, Black Spruce has agreed to cover the deposit for drilling on the licence, which is expected to be drilled from onshore to offshore.
“We are delighted to have gained this extension,” said Enegi chief executive Alan Minty.
“With our partner BSE we are about to commence an extensive drilling programme across all our assets which we believe will demonstrate the full potential of the region.”